


Little Bird

by AverageFan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drarry, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6326029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AverageFan/pseuds/AverageFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You see Harry, every witch and wizard has this tattoo to represent their soulmate. Yours, for example, is this little black bird. This represents your future soulmate. When you first encounter your soulmate, your tattoo will begin to move”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Harry lay in his bed at 12 Grimmauld Place, with his arm held in the air. His eyes gazed at the little black bird-figure flapping its wings on his wrist that had been there since he was born. As a young boy, he’d always wondered what it was and why his aunt, uncle and cousin didn’t have one. He’d always wondered if his parents had tattooed him when he was a baby, but that was ridiculous. He sometimes guessed that it was just an oddly shaped birth mark. When Hagrid came to collect him and take him away from that hut on the rock and told Harry that he was in fact a wizard, he guessed that it was a magical tattoo and that each witch and wizard had one different and unique to them. He finally found out what that little bird meant one day in first year when he had asked Professor McGonagall. _“You see Harry, every witch and wizard has this tattoo to represent their soulmate. Yours, for example, is this little black bird. This represents your future soulmate. When you first encounter your soulmate, your tattoo will begin to move”_ It all made sense to Harry from then on.

He had first noticed that tattoo began to move when he was on the train with Ron, which was a shock to Harry, and was slightly annoying as he had met a lots of people over the course of the past few days; in Diagon Alley where he went to collect his school equipment, on the platform and on the train. It could have been anyone and he hoped that it had been one of his fellow students. From then on he had fantasized every night about the perfect girl. He assumed they would be interested into the same things, so naturally he imagined them flying high over the lake and kissing in the air. He imagined her with blonde hair and sharp features, but had never really cared about looks. Recently, he’d been contemplating whether his soulmate could be a boy. He’d be completely open to that. He’d never admitted it to Ron, Hermione or anyone else for that matter, but in fourth year he did have a small infatuation with Cedric. When he found out that Cedric’s tattoo had nothing to do with Harry’s interests or personality, he had to admit he was a bit disappointed. He also regularly checked out the boys in his year, but was oblivious to his actions until fourth year. Deep down inside, he still hoped it was that blonde haired girl in his dreams, but had accepted that was highly unlikely; as to his memory, he had not met her. Though, it would be easier to be a girl, after all.

Of course, Harry was devastated when neither Cho’s or Ginny’s tattoos matched up. He was oblivious to this fact and still gave Ginny a chance, though, as he believed it may be possible that their tattoos represented one another. She made him happy, and there was a deep connection between the two. Alas, it did not work out no matter how much they both tried. The connection wasn’t one of a partner, just as a friend. The spark wasn’t there. Love…love was definitely present, but not like they both wanted. It was the same love Harry felt for his friends. It just didn’t feel right. Each kiss was supposed to be electrifying, but it wasn’t. They were supposed to get excited, get butterflies, jumpy with anticipation to see one another, but that didn’t happen. Their relationship was nowhere near how Ron and Hermione’s was; full of passion and drive and so, so much love. Eventually, they both accepted they weren’t meant to be and mutually decided to split, but had stayed very close friends ever since.

Harry sighed, his stomach twisting at the memories of past relationships. He knew he was only 18 and that there was plenty of time to find his soulmate; quite a few people in his year had not found their soulmate within the walls of Hogwarts and some were unfortunate enough to be soulmates with a muggle – Harry thought this was unfortunate not for the fact that they were paired with a muggle, but simply because it meant that they had a much harder time finding their true love. He couldn’t shake the knowledge that he had already met his soulmate though, and in his current state of feeling extremely lonely, he needed to meet this person.

Harry was hoping that this year, his eighth and last year at Hogwarts, would be the one where he found his soulmate.


	2. Chapter 2

“Harry!” a female voice called from a few paces behind where Harry was standing on the Nine-and-Three-Quarters platform. Harry turned and was greeted by a face full of bushy hair and an armful of Hermione. He laughed as he hugged her back, tightly. Behind Hermione stood Ron, smiling as he watched Hermione finally let go of Harry and allowed Ron to hug him. Harry’s heart was warmed as soon as he was reunited with his best friends. He had hardly seen them after defeating Voldemort. Harry had needed time to come to terms with everything he had lost in the war, and time to re-energise. Likewise with Ron, he needed time to accept the loss of Fred, and Hermione had gone over to Australia to rekindle her relationship with her parents. Harry also wanted to give Ron and Hermione time to themselves, as they had been stuck with him constantly over the past year with next to no time alone. Harry had met with Ginny a few times in the summer to try and work things out. This was when they decided to split. Not only had the relationship not been able to work due to missing feelings, but Harry had changed because of the war and Ginny hadn’t been able to cope. Harry had spent the majority of his summer alone and now, seeing his friends again, had only just realised how much he missed them.

The clock was soon to strike eleven, so the Golden Trio grabbed their trolleys – Harry’s feeling wrong without Hedwig perched upon the top – and made their way over to the train. After leaving their belongings in the storage area, they made their way onto the train and began looking for a free compartment. They ignored the calls of the younger years, “Harry, Hermione, Ron!” “Look, it’s Harry, he killed You-Know-Who!” “The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice!” and kept on walking. They knew they weren’t early onto the train, and therefore most of the cabins had been filled. As they peered into each one to check whether it was free, they came across the Slytherin trio. Ron and Hermione took hardly any notice, but Harry couldn’t help looking into the compartment and looking at Malfoy.

Memories of Malfoy on the back of his broom in the Room of Requirement, vulnerable and scared, clinging onto Harry for dear life flooded into his mind. It was then that Harry had realised that Draco Malfoy was just another victim of war, forced onto the wrong side. Harry’s thoughts were interrupted when Malfoy looked up at Harry. They shared a nod of acknowledgment. Pansy, of course, just sneered at him and Blaise made no notion of taking notice of Harry. Harry moved away only when he heard Ron call his name, signalling that they had found a compartment and “what the bloody hell are you doing?” Harry just made his way over to his friends, a small smile upon his face in hope that maybe this year _will_ be different.

Harry slid inside of the compartment, locking the door once inside. They didn’t want anyone coming in asking for details on the war – they were all trying to push that part of their past out of their minds and replace it with something happier. Once Harry sat down opposite Ron and Hermione, Ron’s arm around Hermione’s shoulders, Hermione asked, “What was that about Harry?” Harry just looked at her, puzzled, “What was what?” “You know what…with ferret”, Ron said. Harry just shrugged and changed the subject, asking them how their summer was.

He learned that Hermione had been able to undo the ‘obliviate’ she had cast a year ago and spent time bonding with them. Ron had spent time trying to keep his family happy, especially George. That was typical Ron, though, trying to keep others happy when he himself was suffering from the same loss. The two had both been informed of the break up between Harry and Ginny, but wanted to know more. They spent the whole train journey discussing their summer and how glad they were now that they could get back to Hogwarts and get back to learning. They, of course, also treated themselves to some Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs when the food trolley had come around. When they were nearing Hogwarts, they changed into their Gryffindor robes and soon enough were stepping off of the train and heading into the castle on their thestral-pulled carriage; only after greeting Hagrid and having a small conversation with him. The thestrals were increasingly popular amongst the students now, as many had seen someone die, which quite upset the trio, but nothing could be done.

The castle had undergone massive reconstruction over the summer and even though there was still much to be done internally, it looked pretty much the same on the outside. Many students and their families had contributed to the reconstruction of Hogwarts over the summer, wizarding families all over the country donating galleons towards the project. Harry, Hermione and Ron had of course offered, but Professor McGonagall had refused to let them help, saying that they had already done enough and needed a rest. As Harry and his friends walked through the main entrance and into the Great Hall, they realised it still felt like home. The atmosphere felt slightly different, but they had come to realise that it wasn’t just the castle itself that offered its homeliness, but it was the teachers and fellow students that made it feel like a safe and comfortable place to live.

The three took their seats at the end of the Gryffindor table and while awaiting for the sorting ceremony to be over, Harry took in the surroundings. There were once again floating candles and the whole room seemed to be nearly exactly the same as it had been in sixth year. Harry ignored the memories of the dead and the injured lying upon the floor and remembered his first steps through the Great Hall, being sorted into Gryffindor, laughing with Ron and his brothers. Yes; despite all of the horrors and tragedies that had occurred in this castle over the past year, it still felt welcoming, and like Harry’s home.

Over the course of the welcoming ceremony, they listened to the speeches from Professor McGonagall (including the information that the eighth year curfew was 11pm and that absolutely no alcohol was permitted despite the eighth years being legal to drink the stuff), the introduction of the new teachers and the stern warning not to pester ‘particular individuals’ (Harry believed that was directed towards himself, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Malfoy and a bunch of others) about the war. After that, they got on with the meal and caught up with their other friends that had come back for the extra year – some had refused to come back to Hogwarts, but that was mostly the Slytherins’ who had Death Eater parents now locked up in Azkaban – and just enjoyed reacquainting themselves with one another.  

Harry didn’t know why, but throughout the course of the evening in the Great Hall, he had the urge to keep glancing over to the Slytherin table. He eventually put it down to the need to check on Malfoy, to see if he was doing anything suspicious. He’d gained that habit over sixth year and it seemed to have not disappeared yet. Harry was certain that Malfoy would not be getting up to any mischief this year – for one he had come back to Hogwarts, and secondly, there was nothing to cause chaos over. There would probably be the regular fights between himself and the blonde haired boy, but other than that, all cause of mischief had been eradicated when Harry and his friends had beaten Voldemort. Also, war changed people. Harry was very familiar with this. As well as this factor, they were all 18 now, they were all adults. So maybe Malfoy, just maybe, could turn out to be decent this year. Harry laughed at his thought and shook his head. No, Malfoy would most certainly still be a git this year.

As the ceremony came to a close, the Gryffindors made their way up to the common room. Upon entering, a sense of relief and comfort washed over the eighth years. The common room hadn’t changed – it looked exactly as it had before and for that Harry was glad. Red walls and huge armchairs warmed the room, and shelves of books and tables were placed across the floor. It was busy, bright and just as they all had learnt to love it. Upstairs was a temporary dormitory added for the eighth years, which after lounging around sitting in his favourite armchair, Harry went to inspect.

It looked the same as the others – four-poster beds lined up around the edge of the room in a curve, adorned with red curtains and light golden duvets. Their trunks were at the edge of each bed, as usual, and Harry quickly found his next to Seamus’ and Ron’s. His friends came to join him not too much later and after chatting for a while about their favourite Quidditch teams, they all lay their heads down on their pillows. Before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, Harry smiled up at the ceiling and thought about how happy he was to be back.


	3. Chapter 3

_“Sectumsempra” Harry heard himself yell, a bright light crashing into the blonde boy, knocking him down onto the wet floor of the bathroom. Harry slowly stepped forward, one foot in front of the other, breathing heavily. His heart was thudding loudly and when he saw the other boy laying on the floor, Harry froze. Malfoy lay, body sprawled across the floor, the water blood-soaked. His torso had looked like it had been slashed with a sword and the blood seeped through his shirt. All Harry saw was red, red, red. Harry felt tears well up in his eyes and he tried to blink them back. He went to kneel next to Malfoy, to try to help him, when a wrist grabbed his own. “You...You’re a monster, Potter. Look what you’ve done, you’ve killed me. Killed me. Hurt me. You’re just like HIM!”_

Harry awoke with a start, clinging onto the sheets. It took him a few minutes to get his bearings after picking up his glasses from where they lay on the bedside table and pushing them on. Harry had repeatedly had that nightmare, but with different endings, all different from the actual scenario. It would either be Malfoy dying because Snape didn’t turn up, Malfoy just screaming, or Malfoy grabbing onto him and cursing him for what he’d done. Alongside this nightmare, Harry also had ones of the war. It was very, very rare for him not to suffer throughout the night.

Once Harry had calmed down, he checked the time only to see that it was half past 6. Harry sighed and grabbed the Marauder’s Map. After whispering, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good” he glanced over the map for something to do. He automatically started looking for Malfoy, who was in fact in his Slytherin dormitory. There was nothing interesting going on, only a few early risers in the library, so Harry tucked the map away after telling it that his mischief had been managed.

Harry sat up and flung his legs over the side of the bed. He picked up his wand before rummaging around his trunk to gather his clean uniform and other necessary things for trying to look presentable for his first day back at school. He entered the bathroom and got in the shower, the warm water running over his body and calming Harry’s mind. He felt nervous…Why did he feel nervous? Images of a blonde boy with a sneer upon his face flashed behind Harry’s eyes, but Harry shook it off. He must be nervous because of the dream, and because himself and Malfoy may get into a fight, and right now Harry really did not want that. Harry sighed and quickly finished up in the shower and finished getting ready. He waited in the common room for his friends, reading what nonsense The Prophet was saying about him and the rest of the wizarding world.

Once Ron and Hermione, plus Neville, came down after getting ready, they headed off for breakfast. Harry was quite looking forward to this as he had not had a decent breakfast in months – Kreacher wasn’t one for putting more than a few pieces of toast on a plate for Harry and even though Harry would often make his own food, it was nowhere near as good as the food that the Hogwarts house-elves supplied. Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table to see Malfoy alone, eating an apple. Something pulled at Harry’s chest – sympathy, possibly. Harry didn’t let it affect him as he sat down, his back to his lonely class mate and he concentrated on the lovely food in front of him and the owl’s swooping in from above them, dropping letters in front of students - mainly the first years, receiving letters from curious parents. At the table they all discussed their classes and whether or not they were in the same ones. Ron and Harry, both with the intention of becoming Aurors, shared all of their NEWT classes – DADA, Transfigurations, Herbology, Charms and Potions. Hermione was also in these lessons, but had also chosen to take Arithmacy and Ancient Runes as well. Ron and Harry were extremely glad that Hermione was in their lessons, as they knew they’d be needing her help.

Breakfast soon came to an end and they all headed off to their first lesson of the day – Potions with Professor Slughorn. Harry sighed as the approached they dungeons. He had never been very good at potions, and had only gotten through OWL’s with the help of Hermione, and sixth year with Snape’s potions book. He really didn’t know how he’d get Exceeds Expectations in his exam, but he needed to if he wanted to be an Auror. Once they had all entered the classroom, Professor Slughorn announced “Do not take your seats as I have paired you together already. The reason I have done this is because I believe some people would benefit from being paired with someone that could help them, as this NEWT is rather challenging, and someone who they wouldn’t gossip to throughout the lesson” the whole class sighed in unison. Harry prayed that he was with one of his friends…Or even just a Ravenclaw. As long as he wasn’t with a Slytherin…

“Harry Potter” Slughorn called. “Yes Professor?” Harry said, looking up. “You’re paired with Mr Malfoy, for the first term at least. Mr Malfoy is very good at potions and I believe that you will benefit greatly from working with him. Your seats are over there” Slughorn pointed to one of the benches on the left of the room. Ron patted Harry’s back and whispered, “Good luck mate” Harry just nodded and made his way to the bench, taking a seat next to a very quiet and withdrawn Malfoy.

They were brewing a Hair-Raising Potion today, to which Malfoy deemed very boring. The only speech that was heard between the two was when Malfoy was instructing Harry on what to do, or criticising on how he was chopping up one of the ingredients. Harry rolled his eyes each time. His mind was pre-occupied with the nagging of ‘apologise, say something, talk to him’. Harry looked over to where Malfoy was preparing some other ingredients. One of his sleeves was rolled up to his elbow, the other wasn’t. It took a minute for Harry to realise that it was the left arm that was covered up; the arm where the Dark Mark was, or used to be. He was told that once Voldemort had died, the Dark Mark began to fade. He didn’t know if this was true or not, but by the way Malfoy was still covering his left arm, he presumed at least some essence of it was still there, engraved into his skin. When Malfoy looked up, he noticed Harry looking at his left arm and coughed, causing Harry to look back down at the flower he was now crushing.

Forty minutes into the lesson and the lack of conversation was troubling Harry. He hated it. He watched as Malfoy stirred the potion, fifty times clockwise, thirty five anti-clockwise. As they waited for it to brew, they were to fill out some follow up questions on the process of brewing and the potion itself. Harry struggled, but was able to answer most of the questions, until he reached the question asking for the uncommon side-effects. “Uh…Malfoy?” He asked. Malfoy didn’t look up and only replied with, “Yes Potter?” Harry sighed in relief that Malfoy didn’t tell him to piss off, and asked for the answer to the question. Surprisingly, Malfoy supplied the answer. Then it was back to silence.

Harry couldn’t take it anymore, his brain was refusing to let him sit back and not apologise. So he quickly blurted out, “I’m sorry” without thinking about the reasoning. This time, Malfoy looked up at Harry with a confused expression. “What?” he just said. Harry took a deep breath and after composing his sentences in his head (sort of) he began to explain. “I’m sorry. For the war, for your dad, for the horrible things you must have seen and been through being on that side. I’m sorry for nearly killing you the other year, and I’m sorry for being such a git since the first day of school” Malfoy sat there, one eyebrow raised.

 And then he _smiled._ Draco Malfoy _smiled_ at _Harry._ It wasn’t a large smile, just a small turn up of edges of his mouth. Then he opened his mouth, and Harry braced himself for snarky comments. “You were a git, Potter. I’d come to terms with the scar that you caused ages ago, and yes it was rather awful being on that side of the war but you’ve got to understand I didn’t choose that side. It was follow my father, follow the Dark Lord, or be killed” he said.

They shared a look, one that symbolised forgiveness. “We gonna get along this year then?” Harry asked. Malfoy shrugged, checking the potion. “Depends if you act like a dick. Or if Weasel punches me in the face” he said before calling over Professor Slughorn to check their potion. After he decided that their potion was rather well done, to which Malfoy muttered, “Obviously” under his breath, they began to clear up. Nothing was said during this process and just before they were dismissed, Harry looked over to Malfoy, who gave him a small nod.

As Harry left the potions room and headed to his next lesson with Ron and Hermione, a sense of relief washed over him as he realised that this year would indeed be different.

 

* * *

 

 

Later on in the common room, Harry had told Ron and Hermione about the conversation with Malfoy. Both of their reactions were similar – stating that he was still Malfoy and that they all should be civil, but Harry shouldn’t go off making friends with him. Harry tried to argue that he was no longer a Death Eater and that Malfoy never _really_ was one, but when he caught himself defending him, he stopped. “You’re mental” Ron said and the conversation was cut short as Dean and Seamus came to join the trio. For some reason, throughout the night, Harry couldn’t stop thinking of grey eyes that didn’t show any sign of harm, only determination.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the views and kudos already!! Occasionally I may switch to Draco’s POV if I feel like it would add depth to the story :) if you don’t like me switching POV’s sometimes, just say.

A few days passed and Malfoy and Harry hadn’t spoken another word to one another; except the occasional instruction in Potions. Harry wasn’t sure why he cared, but he did. Maybe it was because he often saw Malfoy sitting alone in lessons, or walking around by himself; and when Pansy and Blaise were with him, they would hardly pay much attention to Malfoy. Harry felt bad for him. He knew he shouldn’t after all those years of torment, but knowing that Malfoy had no choice in the side he was on in the war made Harry hate him a little less. Ron and Hermione had of course said to Harry that Malfoy could have been lying, but the way Malfoy had said it, and that look in his eyes…Harry didn’t believe that he was lying. Currently, Harry was lying in bed, wondering what Malfoy had been up to these past few days.

 

* * *

 

Draco couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation he had with Potter. He wanted to be snarky, to tell Potter to piss off, but he couldn’t. Draco wanted this year to be different, he wanted to pass his NEWTS and to do that his energies had to be put into his studies, not into bullying Potter. He didn’t even know why Potter had bothered to apologise, it wasn’t as if they had ever been friends. He was perfectly fine with ignoring Potter for the entirety of the year, but that just couldn’t happen. That would be in Draco’s favour, and that never happened. Now Potter was on his mind, and he didn’t like it.

Draco was alone a lot these days. He would have people from other houses ‘accidentally’ hex him, blame him for the death of their friends, push him into things and make horrid statements about himself and his family as they walked past. Many people disliked him before the war, but never really expressed it – with the exception of Potter, Weasel and Granger (he had decided to stop called her Mudblood, especially after the incident in the Manor). Now he was getting all of this hate, and Draco had to admit it did affect him.

He sat with Blaise and Pansy when he could, but he knew they didn’t particularly want him around. They knew that Draco wasn’t really on the side of the Dark Lord and they judged his loyalty a lot. He thought they were being immature, as it was all over now, there was no point in holding onto the past. The Dark Lord was gone, thanks to Potter, so there was no point in lingering on about his loyalty and strength as a Death Eater. But as Slytherins with Death Eater parents that were now in Azkaban, Blaise and Pansy held onto that. Draco thought that they blamed him for their parents’ imprisonment, which was ridiculous. In Draco’s eyes, Pansy and Blaise hadn’t grown up at all, but despite this, Draco was lonely and definitely didn’t want Potter to see that.

When he did sit with Pansy and Blaise, they would often blank him. There was a very small bunch of Slytherins who returned to Hogwarts for their eighth year, and those who did return weren’t fond of Draco, blaming him for Vincent’s death. Draco blamed himself, too. He often missed Vincent Crabbe, he’d been there for Draco throughout most if not all of his time at Hogwarts and Draco felt like he had let him down. Alas there was nothing he could do about it.  

Draco suppressed his feelings and got along with the school day as they came to him. He was taking DADA, Transfigurations, Potions, Charms, Herbology, Arithmacy and Ancient Runes. He needed these to become a Healer; or a Medical Potioneer, he hadn’t decided yet. These were all of the same classes as Granger, and shared five with the Weasel and Potter. Thankfully he was in some different classes, such as DADA, Transfigurations and Charms simply because they were very popular and needed more than one class.

It was a Friday, for which Draco was glad. He was going about his business, heading outside for lunch with some sandwiches and an apple he had taken from the Great Hall, when he was ambushed by a group of sixth year Ravenclaws. He was pushed against the wall and he just sighed… Great.

 

* * *

 

Harry and Ron were heading to the Great Hall to meet Hermione, who had just come out of Arithmacy when Harry heard shouting. He looked to Ron with a confused expression, and it appeared that Ron had heard it too. They walked in the direction of where the noise was coming from and saw Malfoy, pressed against the wall, being spat on and shouted at by some Ravenclaws. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and Ron said, “It’s only Malfoy, come on” Harry shook his head. He insisted Ron go to the Great Hall and he’d see him soon. When Ron realised he wouldn’t be able to persuade Harry to come with him and leave Malfoy, he sighed and muttered, “Whatever mate” and stalked off. When Harry got closer to Malfoy he could hear the shouting more clearly.

“It’s your fault, Death Eater scum. My sister died because of you!” “You’re a fucking monster” “You and your pathetic father and mother are just murderers” Harry heard the Ravenclaws say. Malfoy growled, “Don’t say anything about my mother” Harry cocked an eyebrow. Malfoy hadn’t defended his father, which Harry thought he would have. As he thought about every time he had encountered Lucius Malfoy with his son, Harry couldn’t recall a time where Lucius had treated Draco with much respect. Lucius was a harsh man and Harry began to wonder what the Malfoy’s home life was like…

Before he could ponder any more about the domestic side of Draco Malfoy’s life, he heard a loud bang. He looked back over to Malfoy and saw he was being punched and hexed. Harry stood there for a moment or two, his stomach turning. He felt anger build up and when he saw Malfoy was in rather a lot of pain, he made his way over to the crowd, his wand in hand pointing at what seemed to be the ring leader of the group.

“What the hell are you doing?” Harry yelled, causing everyone, including Malfoy to look up. Malfoy let out a little sigh of relief and pressed himself against the wall as two of the Ravenclaws let go of him. “Um, nothing…” One of the girls muttered, stepping backwards a bit. Harry glared at them all, now standing with his wand flicking between each member of the group. “Doesn’t look like nothing” Harry said. He saw Malfoy trying to wiggle out, but was cornered in by the group. “Harry you know he deserves it” the leader said. Harry scoffed, “To my knowledge, Malfoy didn’t fucking personally kill anyone you know; or anyone at all. So bugger off and leave him alone” Harry spat, pushing his wand against the ring leader’s chest. The other student’s eyes widened slightly and in a second, they were gone. Malfoy took his chance and ran out.

“Malfoy, wait!” Harry yelled and chased after him. He ran and ran, and soon caught up to Malfoy and grabbed his wrist. “Piss off Potter!” Malfoy yelled, “I don’t need your help or your pity” Harry gritted his teeth. “Yeah sure you didn’t, it’s not as if you were getting beaten up by a group of twatty idiots” Harry snapped. Malfoy yanked his wrist out of Harry’s hand and whipped around, facing Harry. Harry saw the cut on his lip and the bruises on his face. Malfoy spat blood onto the floor and glared at Harry, “Bloody Potter with your stupid hero complex, have to save everyone even when you’re not wanted” he snarled, “I said piss off” Harry ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath to stop him from arguing back. Malfoy huffed and started walking away, but Harry followed.

“Look Malfoy, what did you expect me to do? Leave you to be beaten to a pulp?”

“I didn’t ask you to save me”

“No, you didn’t but if I hadn’t you would have needed to go to Madam Pomfrey”

“I can heal myself Potter, I’m not incompetent”

“I know you’re not”

Malfoy gave up and turned around to face Harry, “Just leave me alone”

“Not until you tell me what happened”

“You saw what happened you idiot”

Harry laughed and sat down on the grass. He looked up at Malfoy and gestured towards the floor. Malfoy rolled his eyes, but sat, and began to heal his wounds.

“I can do the ones on your face if you want” Harry offered but Malfoy just shot him a glare before transfiguring one of his books into a mirror and using that to help him heal his face.

They sat like that for a while, not knowing what to do. Then Harry broke the silence and asked, “Does it happen a lot?” Malfoy looked at him and shrugged, “Not usually to that extent but yes. I deserve it though and I don’t care” he said. Harry looked into Malfoy’s grey eyes and could tell he was lying, “You do care” he said. He didn’t know why, but that lit a switch in Malfoy and he stood up. “No I don’t Potter. Don’t tell anyone about this or you’re dead” and then he walked away. Harry sighed and watched Malfoy until he couldn’t see him anymore and then made his way to the Great Hall. Typical Malfoy, shutting off his emotions. Harry laughed at the weird moment him and his childhood rival just had.

When Harry reached the Great Hall, Ron had asked what had taken him so long. Harry just said that he’d gotten into a conversation with Pavarti about how her summer was. Ron believed him and didn’t even bother asking about Malfoy. Harry realised how hungry he was and started eating, listening to Hermione’s explanation of how she was the only one to get the Arithmacy equation right last lesson.

Harry didn’t see Malfoy for the rest of the day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Draco in this chapter is based off of this picture of Lucky Blue Smith: https://36.media.tumblr.com/a74cb49edbd315286bb836577983f07b/tumblr_o4cvqySBSj1t11r9qo1_500.jpg

* * *

 

Harry couldn’t stand it. He was happy for his friends, but it made him feel so lonely. Ron and Hermione were cuddled up, laughing, on the sofa opposite him. Ron was wearing a strapless top and Hermione’s sleeves were rolled up. Both of their tattoos were on display. The broom on Hermione’s arm was flying around, and the pages of the book on Ron’s shoulder were flicking over, one every minute or so. Harry stared at the broom, watching it move up and down Hermione's forearm. Harry glanced at his own wrist, watching the bird flap its wings gracefully. He sighed and closed his eyes.

“Harry you alright mate” he heard Ron ask a fair few minutes later. Harry opened his eyes to see his head in Hermione’s lap, her fingers running through his hair. “Hm? Yeah I’m fine. I’m gonna go walk around, see you later” he said. “Oh okay, see you later then” Hermione answered and Harry stood, making his way over to the Fat Lady’s portrait. He turned and glanced back at the couple before stepping through the portrait.

Harry didn’t know where he was going, he was just walking down corridors as they came to him. It was a Sunday, so the corridors were sparse of students. Most people were in their common rooms or outside. It was a decent day for September, the sun was out and it was quite warm. This wasn’t uncommon, Septembers in England were often quite warm. “Hello, Harry, how have you been?” Harry heard. He spun around and there was Nearly Headless Nick. “Didn’t mean to give you a fright” he said. Harry laughed. They spoke for a bit, Nick telling Harry of the restoration project and who he noticed that came back. To his surprise, Harry heard Malfoy’s name crop up. He didn’t expect that, but as he thought about it, helping with the rebuild of Hogwarts may have been one of the conditions of Malfoy’s trial. Harry hadn’t thought much about the trial. He had refused to be present at the trial as he saw it not to be necessary, but he did give a statement to the Ministry stating reasons why he thought Malfoy and his mother should be allowed to go without punishment. He had hoped that his statement made a difference.

After his conversation with St Nicholas, as he had reminded Harry to call him, Harry resumed his walk. He was feeling a bit better now, and he refused to believe that was because of the image of Malfoy helping to rebuild the castle in a shirt and suit trousers. Harry had never seen Malfoy wear anything other than formal clothes and that led Harry to thinking about Malfoy in bed with a full set of formal robes on as pyjamas. Harry laughed quietly to himself and soon he was walking outside and towards the lake.

Harry took a seat close to the lake, his back leaning against the trunk of a large sycamore tree. He looked over the lake and breathed in the fresh air. Harry relaxed against the tree and pulled out his wand, of which had been mended using the Elder Wand before it had been discarded. He began casting ‘wingardium leviosa’ on a few fallen leaves, but soon moved on to using his wand to flick stones into the water, skipping them over the surface. Harry stopped after a while, a wave of solitude washing over him. He rested his wrist on his drawn up knee. He tried to think of who the bird could represent, and what it meant.

Harry had researched what the symbolism for a black bird was over one of his summer holidays, and remembered finding that _‘apart from being a good omen, it could also refer to a heightened awareness either spiritually or in your personal life. It could also imply shyness and insecurity, which directly implies lack of self-confidence. It could infer to being vulnerable to the decisions made by others’_ Harry personally thought that it also represented gracefulness and a sense of purity being corrupted, shown by the colour black. Harry couldn’t pinpoint anyone who matched these traits. Why couldn’t he have a tattoo of something more specific, or something that represented his soulmate’s house – if they were even at Hogwarts?

There was a crunch of twigs and leaves behind Harry and he looked up to see Draco Malfoy sitting down near him, about a metre away. Malfoy had his hair styled to the side and was wearing a slightly baggy grey jumper, along with tight trousers that hugged his legs nicely and his usual black shoes. He was gazing at the lake, but when Malfoy felt eyes on him, he looked at met Harry’s. Harry looked into Malfoy’s eyes. How had he not realised how nice they were before?

Harry looked away quickly, pushing that thought out of his mind. “Potter” he heard Malfoy say. Harry looked back up, “Malfoy” he said, not knowing what else to say. Malfoy glanced at Harry’s wrist and saw the bird, but mention it he did not. “Why aren’t you with Weasel and Granger? Or your Weaselette” Malfoy asked, the question not coming out quite as harsh as he wished it to. Harry shrugged before answering. “Didn’t feel like sitting there while they eye-fuck each other and not pay any attention to me, and me and Ginny split up over summer” Harry answered without really thinking. Malfoy looked away, feeling a bit awkward. “You?” Harry asked. Malfoy didn’t look at him while answering, “I’m not exactly wanted anywhere” Harry was confused. What about Pansy and Blaise? Surely the rest of Slytherin – those that actually turned up for eighth year – still bowed down to Malfoy.

Harry voiced his questions, causing Malfoy to look up. His face wore a bitter expression but his eyes were sad. “You’re forgetting that the whole of Slytherin blames me for Crabbe’s death” he snapped before looking away. Right, how could Harry forget? “They can’t seriously blame you? It wasn’t your fault” Harry said softly. “I’m starting to believe it was” Malfoy muttered under his breath. Harry bit his lip. He was never very good at comforting people, if that’s what he was meant to be doing. He’d never really seen Malfoy display much emotion, but Harry knew if it was him in Malfoy’s position, he would also be feeling quite rubbish, if everyone had abandoned him.

The silence was becoming uncomfortable, so Harry simply changed the subject, not really wanting to be here trying to make Draco Malfoy feel better about himself. “So d’you reckon they’ll let us play Quidditch this year?” he asked. Malfoy scoffed and kicked at some of the leaves around his feet. “Trying small talk with me Potter?” Malfoy said but then proceeded to answer properly, “No I think they won’t let eighth years play, that wouldn’t be very fair on the first years now would it? And McGonagall is all about being fair” Now that Harry thought about it, that would make sense. He groaned; he loved being up there on his broom, fighting against the wind to catch the snitch. “I guess I’ll just have to release the snitch and chase it myself. Won’t be much of a challenge though” he huffed. Malfoy rolled his eyes, “Aren’t you modest about your seeking abilities” he said sarcastically. Harry blushed, “I didn’t mean it like that!” looking down at his knees. “I know” Malfoy said.

Harry gave Malfoy a small smile, who was shuffling uncomfortably. Malfoy exhaled slowly before looking up at Harry. “Look, about the other day…” he said, fiddling with his jumper. “Thanks” he said, not being able to bring himself to properly apologise, because _Malfoy’s don’t apologise_ , especially not to _Potter_. “It’s okay” Harry said. Malfoy nodded and stood up. “Right well…” “Malfoy” Harry said, still on the floor. “Yes Potter” Harry looked up at Malfoy. _‘You know, if you’re ever feeling lonely we can hang out or something’_ “Never mind” Harry said. “Okay” Malfoy said and walked away.

Harry stayed out by the lake for a while, thinking about why Malfoy had been there in the first place. He’d never really explained. Why did he approach Harry? What was that look in Malfoy’s eyes when he saw the black bird upon Harry’s wrist? Harry shook it off, he must have been over thinking. He stood up a while later and made his way to the Great Hall, estimating that it must be about time for dinner.

* * *

 When Draco was far enough away from Potter, he pulled down his jumper slightly to reveal the snitch flapping its wings on his chest, and sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this wasn't out sooner, I've had a bad few days and I was struggling to write this chapter. Anyway; here it is!

* * *

 

Harry sat up quickly in bed that next morning with wide eyes. He’d yet again dreamt of a boy, taller than him, with platinum blonde hair and piercing grey eyes. Harry’s stomach churned as he envisioned Malfoy in the first lesson of the day; Herbology, of which they both shared, his blonde hair looking brilliantly soft as usual and his face fantastic. Harry grunted at himself over these thoughts and stood up. Why was he feeling this way? Yes, Draco Malfoy was very attractive, he couldn’t deny that, but he was also a git. He may have been getting better and being less of an irritating brat, but it was only the start of the year. Harry was sure that once Malfoy had his friends back, his old habits would arise again.

However, Harry remained hopeful. He prayed that Malfoy was a changed man, that they would get along, even become _friends._ Harry pushed out the thoughts of more than friends. Harry sighed, putting these feelings down to the fact he felt lonely. He was getting sick of seeing Hermione and Ron all over each other. Of course he was still happy for them, but it was getting to the point where it was really affecting Harry. Luna and Neville had been getting close, too, and everyone suspected Seamus and Dean were soulmates. Everyone was finding their partners and Harry couldn’t help but feel jealous and a bit left out.

Harry began dressing after visiting the bathroom. After getting ready he threw a pillow onto Ron’s head, waking him up, which earned him a “piss off” Harry just rolled his eyes and sat on his bed, watching his Marauders Map whilst waiting for his best friend. Ten minutes later they were meeting Hermione downstairs and making their way to breakfast in the Great Hall, where as usual Harry glanced at the Slytherin table. Malfoy met his eyes once and Harry blushed, giving him a small smile before turning his concentration back towards the food and his friends, butterflies erupting in his stomach.

The time for Herbology couldn’t come any quicker and the trio plus Neville made their way down to their allocated greenhouse. When they arrived, Harry saw Malfoy standing at the end of one of the long table running all of the way through the greenhouse, alone. Ron, Hermione and Neville gestured towards the middle of the table, on the opposite side. Harry shook his head and made his way to stand next to Malfoy, to which he received a confused look from Hermione, Neville and Malfoy, and a rather annoyed one from Ron.

“Why are you here?” Malfoy asked. Harry looked at him and smiled, “Because you looked lonely, and I’ve had seven years of that lot. Change is good” Malfoy raised an eyebrow, prepared to argue back, but then Professor Sprout walked in, shouting “Morning ladies and gentlemen” and went on to describe what plant they’d be learning about today. They collectively made notes on the important aspects of the plant, such as its properties and what it can be used for. They were all then handed a pot of this particular plant and were to extract the part of the plant that was specific in a type of magical medicine. They listened to the instructions and jotted them down before getting to work.

“Look, Potter, I don’t need your sympathy, I’m perfectly ok-”Malfoy started, to which Harry rolled his eyes. “Look, _Malfoy_ , I’m already here so deal with it” Harry interrupted. Malfoy sighed and they both grabbed a scalpel and started cutting off the unnecessary parts of the plant. Harry didn’t like working with scalpels, he was always scared that he was going to slip and cut himself. Halfway through the lesson, when Harry wasn’t paying attention to what he was cutting due to watching Malfoy’s long, elegant fingers cut away at the leaves, exactly that happened. “Fuck” Harry said as he dropped the scalpel and looked at the deep cut in his left index finger, blood dripping down his arm as he held his hand up. Malfoy looked up and put his scalpel down, “You’re such an idiot Potter, you’re going to have to go to the infirmary to ensure that you don’t get infected from the plant residue” Harry grunted and made his way to Professor Sprout. She assessed the wound briefly and agreed with Malfoy, and stated that a simple healing charm that the students knew wouldn’t be enough to close the wound.

“Draco Malfoy” Professor Sprout called, causing Malfoy to look up suddenly. “Go with Mr Potter and ensure he actually does go to the infirmary” she said, causing Malfoy to sigh and make his way to the front. Harry didn’t bother arguing with Professor Sprout, as he did have a tendency to skip visits to the infirmary sometimes; and this allowed Harry some time with Malfoy outside of lesson. “Bloody fool” Malfoy said as they left the greenhouse.

“It’s only been a week and you’ve already hurt yourself Potter. How did you even manage to cut yourself?” Malfoy said. Harry shrugged, “Something distracted me” Harry’s arms swung by his side and Malfoy looked over to him “You should be putting pressure on that, or at least pinching the skin either side of the wound together” Harry blushed “Right, but I don’t want to use my hand because then there’d be more germs” “Potter you’re a wizard” Malfoy said before grabbing a leaf from one of the trees and transfiguring it into a tissue. “Oh. Um, thanks” Harry said, taking the tissue and pressing against the wound, hissing at the pain. Malfoy looked at him when he hissed, looking as if he wanted to ask something. “What?” Harry asked. “Can you still speak parseltongue?” Malfoy asked. Harry shook his head, “No, that ability died with the part of Voldemort that was within me” he said. He laughed when he remembered his first time speaking it.

“What are you laughing at?” Malfoy asked as they walked down one of the corridors. “I just remembered the first time speaking in parseltongue” Harry said. “Well, tell me then” Malfoy said. Harry smiled, “I was at the zoo with my aunt, uncle, cousin and his friend. I was only there because they didn’t want to leave me in the house by myself and they couldn’t get anyone to look after me. When we went into the reptile house, the largest snake was resting and Dudley, my cousin, kept on tapping on the glass and wouldn’t leave the snake alone. Once Dudley had his fun, I stayed back and apologised to the snake. I just thought I was talking normally but then _the snake talked back_ and I _understood it_. Then Dudley saw the snake was moving and started annoying it and that obviously annoyed me because one minute the snake was behind the glass and the next, the glass had vanished and the snake had slithered out; and then _Dudley_ was in the enclosure. _Stuck behind the glass_!” Harry explained, laughing. He looked over to Malfoy and saw he was laughing too. “Merlin, Potter” he said, shaking his head. They looked at each other, grinning, for a good few seconds before Harry blushed and looked away.

Harry hadn’t realised how close they were to the infirmary until Malfoy nudged him and said, “I can trust that you won’t run straight back out of the infirmary once I’ve gone?” “Hm?” Harry said and looked up, realising they were only a few feet away from the infirmary. “Oh right, yeah. Thanks Malfoy” Harry said, smiling. “Didn’t really have much choice” he said. They stood like that for a second, Harry chewing on his lip. “Um, Malfoy, if you’re ever feeling lonely or whatever you can come find me” he said quietly. He looked up and saw a pink tinge form across Malfoy’s cheeks. “Thanks Potter, but I’m sure Weasel and Granger won’t want me around” he replied. Harry shrugged, “I don’t care. I don’t always have to be around them you know” Malfoy took in a deep breath, “Alright. Potter, you’re nearly bleeding through that tissue, go to Madam Pomfrey” Harry looked down at his finger and sure enough the tissue was sufficiently red. He nodded, “Thanks. See you around” he said before turning away. He walked a few steps before turning back, “And thanks for not calling Hermione Mudblood anymore” Malfoy nodded in response and watched Harry walk into the infirmary, hearing Madam Pomfrey say rather loudly, “What have you done _now,_ Mr Potter?” before returning back to the greenhouse.

* * *

 

All Draco could think about for the rest of the day was green eyes and a black bird, flapping its wings.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this wasn't out sooner. 
> 
> This chapter is all from Draco's perspective.

* * *

 

It was now Thursday and Draco was flicking over the pages of his Advanced Transfigurations book, curled up on one of the chairs in the common room. He didn’t care much for the greens of the Slytherin common room anymore, for its sharp edges and coldness. Once upon a time, Draco adored the common room, but now after the war he would much prefer something warmer, brighter and more inviting.

He was easing in and out of conversations going on throughout the room. Draco didn't care for what his peers had to say, but couldn't prevent being distracted by what the other students were talking about. From behind him, he heard Pansy talking to Daphne Greengrass. What gained Draco's attention was when Pansy said, "Then the Weasel and Mudblood-" Draco whipped around in his chair. "Don't call Granger that" he said. This earned him a glare and a snide remark of "Getting cosy with the Gryffindors now are we?" Draco just rolled his eyes and turned back to Chapter 9.

Some time later, the common room began to filter out as students made their way up to the Great Hall for dinner. Draco was the last to remove himself from the room as he wasn’t keen on sitting by himself, as he was sure from his remark earlier that Pansy definitely would not allow him to sit with her. He also had a very limited appetite and so seriously debated whether to go to the hall or not. Eventually, though, he decided to make his way up the stairs and to the hall. Draco didn’t accept that it was the curiosity and _need_ to see Potter.

Draco made his way into the Great Hall and slowly walked over to the Slytherin table. As he sat down at the far end, the seventh years two seats down from him moved even further down the table, as if Draco had a contagious disease. Draco sighed and looked away, staring at the door for a moment. His eyes travelled to the Gryffindor table, where he saw Potter looking at him with a stern but concerned expression. Draco raised an eyebrow and Potter motioned with his head for Draco to join him and his friends at the Gryffindor table. Draco shook his head, but maintained eye contact. Potter’s expression became more serious and he nodded, indicating to Draco again to go sit with him. Draco grumbled and stood up, ignoring the stares and mutters around him, and made his way over to the raven-haired man.

“Sit” was all Potter said when Draco arrived, standing next to him. There was a free space next to Potter, so Draco took it, situating himself between Potter and a sixth year who, of course, moved away as soon as Draco sat down. “Hello Granger, Weas-uh, Weasley” Draco said quietly. Granger gave him a small smile whilst Weasel said, “Malfoy” with a mouthful of potatoes. Draco looked down at his lap for a bit and fiddled with his thumbs, feeling incredibly awkward. He didn’t particularly want to eat anything and was having trouble breathing being this close to Potter. His stomach felt weird and when Draco glanced at the food, he felt nauseous. Despite this, his stomach still betrayed him and rumbled.

Someone’s knee nudged Draco’s, making him jump slightly. He looked up to see Potter looking at him. “Eat something” he said with a small smile but fierce, determined eyes. Draco averted his eyes, not allowing himself to get lost in the green, but couldn’t help looking back to Potter, whose eyes were still on him. Draco scowled slightly, “Fine” he said, before placing a small amount of the available vegetables, the smallest pork chop he could find and a little bit of mashed potato. Potter looked at him, seeming as though he was about to tell Draco to get some more food on his plate; he contemplated saying this and opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again, probably realising that he had no chance at convincing Draco to eat more. Draco smirked slightly and put a piece of broccoli in his mouth.

Draco ate in silence, trying to ignore the whisperings around him. He glanced back at the Slytherin table momentarily to see many of them staring at him and laughing. Draco tried to convince himself that they were laughing about something else – and in all honesty they might have been – but Draco’s paranoia kicked in and he couldn’t help but believe that they were all judging him and talking about him. He looked around the Gryffindor table to see that not many eighth years were fazed by his presence, but the other years were. Draco felt uncomfortable and was prepared to just walk out of the room, but when he looked back at Potter and was given a huge smile (accompanied by a mouthful of food) he became glued to his seat, unable to bring himself to tear away from the loud atmosphere around the Gryffindor table.

Soon, everyone had finished their meals. The trio were talking and Draco was sat drinking his pumpkin juice from his goblet. As soon as he had finished that, he saw no reason to stay any longer, so he stood up. Potter quickly turned, “Where are you going?” he asked. “Library, to do some work” Draco replied. Potter stood too, “I’ll come with you, if you don’t mind. I have my Charms essay to do” Draco just nodded. “Yes that’s fine. I need to go down to the common room to gather some parchment and stationary, though” Potter then told him that he would meet Draco at the library and turned to say goodbye to his friends. Draco just walked out of the hall, seeing no point in saying goodbye to anyone as they weren’t his friends, in fact they hated him. The uneasy feeling in Draco’s stomach didn’t leave as he made his way down to the dungeons.

 

Draco took his time, gathering stationary, parchment and a few books into his bag before making his way to the library. Despite walking slowly, Draco still arrived at the library before Potter. He rolled his eyes and walked through the library, finding a table near the back, next to the restricted section. Why they reinforced the restricted section after the war, Draco didn’t know, as they were only books; why did they have to be kept from students? Draco pulled himself out of his thoughts and sat down in one of the chairs. After he had pulled out his things from his bag, he stood and began looking through the aisles of books for Ancient Runes books. He was in the middle of searching for a third one when Potter was suddenly next to Draco, asking him where they were sitting. Draco quickly found the book he was looking for before leading Potter to the back of the room.

“Why all the way down at the back?” Potter said quietly, sitting down on the chair opposite to the one Draco was now occupying. “Why do you think Potter? I’m not exactly wanted and I do want to get work done” Draco whispered back, opening up one of the books to page 61. Potter didn’t reply and instead drew out his parchment and Charms book and started his essay. Draco, of course had already completed the essay and wasn’t surprised when Potter spoke up, “Uh Malfoy-” “Yes, Potter I have done that essay and no I am not going to answer the question for you. However you may find pages 256, 257, 342 and 343 to be of some help” Draco replied, not looking up from his Ancient Runes notes once. “Right, uh, thanks” Potter mumbled. Draco heard the rustling of pages being turned and the scratching of the quill on paper that signified Potter had indeed found the correct pages and was finding them useful.

They continued their studying and writing in silence for at least thirty minutes until Potter spoke again. “Malfoy?” “Yes, Potter” Draco said. “How long did the essay have to be?” Harry asked. “At least two and a half pages. I wrote four” Draco replied. “Great” Potter muttered under his breath. Draco looked up to see that Potter had only written just over one side. Draco closed the Ancient Runes book he was currently looking at and grabbed Potter’s work from him. After reading the work, he passed Potter his work back. “You’re only describing each charm. You need to be explaining the advantages, disadvantages and evaluating the charms, linking them back to the point of the question” Draco said. “I...I don’t really know how” Potter said quietly, so quietly in fact that Draco almost didn’t hear him. “Pick up your quill and a new piece of parchment” Potter did as he was told.

They spent two hours writing the essay, Draco explaining to Potter what to write after he had written all that he knew for the charm at hand. Draco kept on glancing at Potter’s wrist as he wrote, looking at the black bird patterned across his skin. Draco had always wondered whether he and Potter were soulmates, but due to being rejected by Potter on the first day of school, Draco had decided that even if they were, Potter would never want someone like Draco. So Draco spent his days hating, or at least trying to hate, the green-eyed boy, attempting to push down the thoughts of them being soulmates. It felt like the moving snitch was burning into Draco’s chest as he thought about it. Of course Draco could be soulmates with another seeker, but he just had that _feeling_. Draco sighed. He had researched Potter’s tattoo and while that seemed to represent Draco, it could apply to many other people. There was the whole incident with the bird in the Vanishing Cabinet, but Draco knew he was stretching it when he tried to link Potter’s tattoo with that. In all honesty, Draco just wanted to be with Potter. He’d always wanted his attention. It had taken him years to come to the conclusion that he was slightly infatuated with the Chosen One, and he had tried everything and anything to push the feelings away. Alas, he could not, and he couldn’t push the thought of the two being soulmates; or Potter being Draco’s, but someone else being Potter’s…

At nine o’clock the essay was finished and the two decided to pack away. They exited the library together and soon reached the point where they would need to depart. “Thank you for helping with the essay, I appreciate it” Draco smiled slightly. “You’re welcome, Potter” Potter smiled back. “You may as well start calling me Harry, now” he said. Draco bit down on his lip. “Right. Okay. I guess you can call me Draco, then” he said. “Well, Draco, I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks again” P-Harry said. “Okay. Night Harry” Draco said, the name feeling weird on his tongue. Harry wished Draco goodnight and Draco made his way down to the dungeons, gripping onto the strap of his bag tightly. The butterflies from his stomach were present until the moment Draco fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a week! It was the first week back at sixth form and I kept on trying to write the chapter but didn't have any motivation. But it's here now!

* * *

 

As soon as Harry had arrived back in the common room, he was bombarded with questions and accusations about Mal- _Draco._ Many of the accusations coming from Ron, of course, “What the bloody hell are you doing hanging out with that slimy git? Are you trying to find out more about his death eater father? Or are you betraying us?!” Harry rolled his eyes and flopped down onto his favourite armchair. “Honestly Ron. I’m just trying to be civil, I mean we all did fight in a war” Harry explained. “Doesn’t mean you need to start talking to the ugly ferret” Ron huffed and slumped down further into the sofa. _He’s not exactly ugly_ , Harry thought to himself. Hermione looked up from her book and glared at Ron. “If Harry wants to become friends with Malfoy, then he can. But Harry” she said, turning her head to look at Harry, “be careful. He isn’t the nicest of people” Harry shrugged, “He’s changed” he said before closing his eyes.

“Harry?” an Irish voice said from beside him. Harry opened his eyes and realised Seamus was standing next to him. “Yeah Seamus?” Harry replied sleepily. “Can I talk to you? Privately?” Seamus asked. Harry raised an eyebrow but nodded and stood up. He and Seamus made their way out of the common room after waving to Hermione – Ron had pretty much fallen asleep on her shoulder. They reached a bench in the corridor and sat down.

“What’s up Seamus?” Harry asked. He had hardly talked to Seamus once coming back and was regretting that now. Seamus had a worried look on his face and concern ran through Harry. “Um I need advice. Well, not advice really. I don’t know. I need to talk to someone about something and I think you’re the only one that would understand” Seamus said. “Oh? What about Dean?” Harry asked. “Not that I don’t want to help, but you two are best friends” Seamus sighed and crossed his legs on the bench. “That’s the problem. It’s about Dean” Seamus said. “What? Have you fallen out?” Harry asked. Seamus shook his head. “No, no. But…” Seamus took in a deep breath. “Harry I’m gay and…And I think I’m in love with Dean. And I think he’s my soulmate – well, my tattoo is a football. And I thought you’d understand because well you’ve been through so much and your obsession with Malfoy, I thought you would kind of relate”

Harry rose his eyebrows, “I’m not obsessed with him! And I definitely don’t - okay how did you know I like him?” Harry said. Seamus laughed. “Harry I’m gay, I notice when other people are being gay” Harry bit his bottom lip, “Don’t tell anyone. And this is about you and Dean, not Draco. Look Seamus just go for it. If you notice when people are gay then _surely_ you’ve noticed Dean likes you back. Ever since the start you two have been joined at the hip and anyone can see you both love each other so I think you just need to go up to the dude and snog him” Harry said, making Seamus laugh. “Are you sure? I always thought he was very very straight” Harry shook his head.

Harry smiled. “What’s his tattoo?” he asked. “Huh? Oh. It’s a firework” Harry slapped his hand onto his forehead. “You’re such an idiot Seamus. You blow shit up. A firework explodes. _His soulmate is you_ ” Harry laughed. “You really think so?” Seamus asked. Harry nodded. “When we get back into the common room, I expect to see you two kissing in no more than 5 seconds. But not tongues and shit… No offence but I don’t want to see two of my friends practically getting off” Seamus laughed. “Thanks Harry. So…” Seamus started. “No don’t you dare bring up Draco” Harry said. “Well seeming as you call him Draco you must be getting somewhere with him. What’s his tattoo?” Seamus asked. Harry shrugged. “Never seen it and I’ve never asked” Harry said.

Seamus grabbed Harry’s wrist. “Black bird huh? That’s pretty unclear mate. But it does kinda represent Malfoy but if it’s on about lack of self-confidence then I dunno, Malfoy’s stuck up his own arse-” “Actually he’s really not, not anymore at least. I think his self-love has always been an act” Seamus shrugged. “Alright. But if it means freedom or awareness… Well he’s free from being a Death Eater and he’s always been aware of things hasn’t he? It could be Malfoy and I hope for you that it is” Seamus dropped Harry’s wrist.

“I think he might like you too, you know. But Malfoy’s very hard to read” Seamus said. Harry shook his head. “Nah he doesn’t. I think you’re thinking that because he’s actually being nice to me now. And that you want him to like me so I’m happy. But thanks Seamus” he said. Harry checked the time. “Shit we better be getting back, it’s nearly curfew” They stood simultaneously and walked quickly back to the common room. When they got back, Seamus smiled at Harry before making his way over to Dean who was reading.

Harry watched as Seamus took Dean’s hand and most likely told him that he loved him. Harry saw Dean’s face light up and he grabbed Seamus’ face and pulled him into a kiss, inviting him up onto his lap as they kissed. Harry smiled, happy for them both. After Dean had whispered something to Seamus, the Irish man turned around and mouthed ‘thank you’ to Harry before turning back to Dean and laying his head onto his chest.

Harry yawned and made his way up to the dormitory and saw Ron in his bed, snoring with his curtains open. Harry smiled and shut Ron’s curtains for him before getting ready and falling onto the mattress himself. He thought about what Seamus had said and dismissed it, laughing quietly to himself before falling asleep. There was absolutely no way him and Draco could be anything more than friends.

* * *

The next day, Harry couldn’t stop watching Dean and Seamus. They had announced their new relationship at breakfast, which was when Harry told Ron and Hermione what Seamus had taken Harry out of the common room for (he left out the part about Draco). All through Defence Against the Dark Arts he saw them hold hands, laugh together and help one another perfect the spell by holding one another’s wands together, one hand on top of the other. Harry’s stomach fluttered and his heart ached and he couldn’t stop thinking about how that would _feel,_ to have someone love you unconditionally. The feelings he got when around Ron and Hermione were intensified, as he related more to Seamus and Dean. He’d identified as bisexual for years, but now he was leaning on the edge of preferring men, all because of one man. All because of someone who had always given him attention, but not always the right kind. All because of someone with blonde hair and grey eyes and a smile that was so great when used.

“What’s wrong with you?” Draco asked when Harry sat down next to him in Potions hours later. “Huh? Nothing’s wrong” Harry replied, getting out his Potions book and parchment. “Potter you are an awful liar” Harry looked at Draco. “I thought we agreed on first names?” Harry said with a questioning tone. “Not when I’m being lied to” Draco said. Harry sighed, “I’m just surrounded with reminders of something I’m never going to have, okay? That’s all the explanation you’re getting” Draco looked puzzled but nodded. “You’ll get it, whatever it is. You’re Harry Potter” he said before turning his attention to Professor Slughorn, whom of which Harry hadn’t even noticed walk into the room.

Throughout the lesson he tried to concentrate on the potion and the theory, but couldn’t keep his eyes off of Draco for longer than a few minutes. Ever since the conversation with Seamus, Harry was horribly aware of the habits he had picked up around Draco and the feelings he got when Draco smiled or even _talked_ to him. Harry hated these feelings and was determined to get rid of them. The only way he knew how was to ignore Draco, but upon contemplating that he realised he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. Draco was too compelling, and Harry liked having someone who wasn’t in a relationship to talk to. He loved his friends, but he always felt like the third wheel, especially now with Seamus and Dean in a relationship.  He walked out of that lesson feeling better, with a blonde haired man by his side who had agreed to sit with him at lunch so he wasn’t alone. How could Draco do this to him? Make him feel like this? _Draco!_

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late, I had a bad case of writer's block! Please comment any mistakes I've made.

_Platinum blonde hair brushing against Harry’s neck, lap filled with a man. Arms wrapped around Harry’s torso, his own holding onto the hips of his companion. Cuddled up in front of the fire in Grimmauld Place with hot chocolate tainted breaths and eyes shut half way to sleep. Kreacher was making no noise, in fact the only noise in the house was the buzzing of the television. Harry opened his eyes slightly to look at the silver band around his ring finger before smiling and falling asleep._

Harry groaned when he woke up and shoved his face into his pillow. When he looked back up he scowled at his tattoo before grabbing his glasses and shoving them onto his face. Anyone, he could like anyone. Why did it have to be Draco? Harry was awful at being just friends with someone who he fancied and he really didn’t want to mess this friendship with Draco up. _He had less than a year left with him_ , Harry thought. _He could get through this_.  Obviously Ron had heard him groan as he heard him say through the curtains, “You alright?” Harry sighed and opened the curtains around his bed and nodded. “Yeah, weird dream is all” Ron smiled slightly at him before walking off to the bathroom. He’d been given that excuse enough times that he just shrugged it off. Harry was grateful for this, as it meant he didn’t have to lie about the contents of his dreams.

Harry hadn’t realised what day it was until Ron was by his bed shouting at him to get up. “Hurry up! It’s the first Hogsmeade weekend!” At that Harry was up, brushing his teeth in the bathroom. They were all children at hearts when it came to the Hogsmeade trips. The small town brought smiles upon their faces. Some of it was still damaged from Death Eater attacks but it was mostly all back to normal and the little shops – especially Honeydukes – warmed all of their hearts. Once Harry was ready, himself and Ron skipped down the stairs to meet Hermione in the common room, who was smiling and talking to a third year who was experiencing Hogsmeade for the first time that day. Ron and Harry allowed Hermione to finish the conversation before making their way out through the painting of the Fat Lady and down the stairs.

They went to the Great Hall to grab some toast and fruit before heading out into the September wind. Harry looked around the Great Hall, looking for a platinum blonde head, but couldn’t find Draco anywhere. He excused himself from Ron and Hermione for a moment and went over to the Slytherin table, approaching Blaise Zabini. “Zabini? Sorry, but have you seen Draco?” Harry asked. The other man rolled his eyes before answering, “He’s still in the Slytherin dorm moping about” Harry nodded and thanked him before heading back over to Ron and Hermione.

“You head to Hogsmeade without me. I’ll be there soon, I just need to check on Draco” Harry said to the duo before grabbing an apple and biting into it. Ron and Hermione nodded in unison and waved goodbye as Harry walked out of the doors of the Great Hall – after taking another apple for Draco. He made his way down to the dungeons, memorising the path to the Slytherin common rooms from his second year escapades with the polyjuice potion. He was praying that someone was there and that they would let him in – if he was lucky enough it would be a first or second year.

As he neared the common room, he heard footsteps in front of him. He saw a (what must have been) fourth year. Harry hid behind one of the pillars and listened to the fourth year say the password before letting themselves into the common room. Harry silently cheered to himself and cast a notice-me-not spell before repeating the password. He then quickly walked through the common room and to the seventh year boys’ dormitory. Once he entered, he removed the spell and looked over to where Draco was sat on his bed, topless, reading.

“What the heck are you doing here?” Draco said, putting his book down. Harry didn’t answer, he just looked at the scars on Draco’s chest and gulped. Draco was very attractive, his skin was like porcelain but Harry had broken that by casting the sectumsempra. “Stop being sentimental” Draco said and Harry nodded before putting on a smile and making his way over to Draco’s bed and sitting down on it, handing Draco the apple. The man accepted the apple and bit into it before asking Harry why he was there again; totally ignoring how he had gotten in. “It’s the Hogsmeade trip and I didn’t see you downstairs. You c _an’t_ just sit here all day and miss out on the trip” Harry said.

“And why can’t I?”

“Because I said so”

"That’s not a valid reason”

“Just get up and get dressed, you’re coming to Hogsmeade with me whether you like it or not” Harry said before standing up and gesturing with his hand for Draco to get up too. Draco rolled his eyes and stood. Harry’s eyes wandered down Draco’s torso right to the waistband of his pyjama bottoms, which were sitting dangerously low and making Harry’s stomach flutter. Draco either didn’t notice or pretended not to notice as he made his way to the bathroom, clothes in hand and told Harry to wait.

Harry sat waiting, fiddling with his thumbs. He was biting down on his lip when Draco emerged from the bathroom. His breath caught in his throat as he eyed Draco up and down. He was wearing a white shirt underneath a blue jumper, with tight fitting trousers. Harry quickly averted his eyes and stood up. He watched as Draco put on his shoes and grabbed his dark duffel coat before they made their way out of the Slytherin common room, Harry once again casting a notice-me-not spell.

They walked out of the front gates and down the path, gaining stares and funny looks from the other years. Harry glared at a few of them, causing them to turn their heads. Harry moved slightly closer to Draco protectively; thankfully he didn’t notice. “So where do you want to go first?” Harry asked. Draco smiled slightly and didn’t say anything as they neared the village. As soon as they reached the shops, Draco nudged Harry with his elbow and Harry followed him into a clothes shop that sold robes as well as casual clothes.

“You _need_ a wider variety of clothes if you’re going to be my friend. And better quality clothes” Draco said, looking at the trousers. Harry’s eyes widened. “Oh hell no, you’re not playing _makeover_ with me!” Draco just laughed and threw a pair of skinny fit trousers at Harry. “How the bloody hell do you know my size?” Harry asked, checking the size tag on the trousers. “I can just tell” Draco said before handing Harry some jeans. “Only because I know you won’t wear proper trousers” he said. Harry sighed and followed Draco around the shop, his arms filling with shirts, tshirts, jumpers, jeans and even new robes.

“Right, go try them on” Draco ordered Harry. He rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He got changed into one outfit and stepped out. Draco’s eyes lit up which made Harry’s stomach flutter. “Suits you. Next one” It continued like that for half an hour, Draco telling Harry what combinations of clothes to wear and to show him afterwards. They left the shop with two pairs of jeans, the new robes, two jumpers, three tshirts, a shirt and even a pair of formal trousers (which Harry reluctantly bought to make Draco happy). “Where to next?” Harry asked. “I believe it’s your turn to choose” Draco said, carrying his own small bag of clothes. “Honeydukes” Harry said with a smile. Draco laughed quietly, “Typical Gryffindor” he said, but they still made their way over to the sweet shop.

The store was busy with students of all ages. Honeydukes was always the favourite and must-go-to shop on Hogsmeade trips. Harry noticed Draco had stopped a pace behind Harry. “Alright?” Harry asked. Draco nodded. “Just taking in the smell” he said warily. Harry could tell he was lying and that Draco was most probably nervous about the number of people that hated him in the store. “I know that’s bullcrap. Don’t worry about the other people, I’m here” Harry said, not realising how that sounded. Draco smiled slightly and rolled his eyes – he did a lot of that, Harry noticed – before saying “You and your hero complex” and joining Harry’s side.

There was thankfully no troubles with any of the students in the shop and after gathering lots of sweets for the duo to share they made their way to the bench that overlooked the Shrieking Shack. “Hey Draco?” Harry said, a memory filling his mind. “Mmhm?” Draco said, chewing on a sweet. “It was me under my Invisibility Cloak that got you covered in snow in third year” Harry confessed. Draco’s eyes widened slightly as he swallowed the sweet. “You prick!” Draco said and shoved Harry. He laughed and jogged forward a bit to avoid Draco pushing him harder down onto the ground. Draco ran and pushed Harry onto the ground anyway, scowling at him. The scowl didn’t last very long as Harry laughed, causing Draco to laugh. Draco playfully kicked Harry’s side – not hard at all – before pulling him up and making his way over to the bench, Harry following behind.

They sat on the bench for hours, talking and eating sweets. They were only disturbed by the occasional bird flying above them, which reminded Harry of his tattoo. He glanced down at his wrist and Draco’s eyes followed Harry’s gaze. “Draco? What’s your tattoo?”


	10. Chapter 10

 

“What?” Draco asked, a bit taken aback. “You’ve seen my tattoo, I was wondering what yours was?” Harry said. Draco suddenly looked offended. “Because it’s personal to me Potter! And it’s none of your business!” Draco exclaimed, standing up. “Draco stop!” Harry said, standing up and chasing after Draco who had started to walk away. 

* * *

 

Harry _could not_ find out what his tattoo was. He held a hand against his chest where the snitch was moving. Yes there was a possibility it wasn’t Harry, but by the way things were going, it was most likely Harry; and Draco couldn’t have that. Harry had only just started being his friend. Draco had been horrible to Harry throughout their time at Hogwarts. He was lucky enough to be able to be friends with the Boy Who Lived Twice. He could never confess his crush on him. Draco sighed. It was only a little crush, but it was still significant. He couldn’t ruin what he had with Harry. He could never have him as anything more than a friend. He wasn’t good enough for Harry, he never would be. 

* * *

 

“Draco!” Harry said again, grabbing Draco’s wrist. Draco whipped around. “What’s your problem? I’m sorry I asked alright!” Harry said, not letting go of Draco’s wrist. Draco was giving him that evil brooding look he did oh so well and Harry _despised_ being on the receiving end of it now. Harry’s emotions radiated off of him and Draco relaxed a little bit. Harry dropped Draco’s wrist when he was sure he wouldn’t run away. “I’m sorry” Harry said. “Okay Potter” Draco said before turning around again, to which Harry grabbed his hand.

Draco jumped as Harry’s hand touched his, so Harry quickly retracted his hand from Draco’s. Draco took the opportunity and ran all the way back to Hogwarts, leaving Harry standing alone with all their things and an aching heart. 

* * *

 

Draco got back to school and went straight to his dormitory. Thoughts were racing through his head, whether he was harsh or reasonable. Whether he should tell Harry or not. He couldn’t have Harry finding out, but he could easily say it was another Quidditch player. There were plenty. Draco _hated_ lying to Harry though. Draco fell face down onto his bed. It felt unfair; yes he had seen Harry’s tattoo but Harry’s could mean significantly more people than Draco’s. Harry was pretty oblivious to everything though… Maybe he would assume it was another Quidditch player. ARGH! These voices is his head were getting too much, they were affecting Draco and in the end he just fell asleep on his bed fully clothed, forgetting all about the abandoned clothes he’d left with Harry earlier on. 

* * *

 

Harry made his way to the Slytherin common room, his stomach twisted into knots. He was nervous, he didn’t know whether Draco would want to see Harry due to the events from earlier on. He stood in front of the wall in the dungeons, chewing on his lip with Draco’s bag of items in his hand. He spoke the password, remembering it from earlier that day, and stepped through the entrance, forgetting to cast a spell on himself. Heads turned and glared at Harry as he awkwardly made his way through the common room and up to the dormitory. Upon opening the dormitory door, he saw Draco asleep on his bed, curled up into a ball. Harry didn’t have the will to wake him up, so he placed the bag of clothes down by the side of Draco’s bed and closed the curtains around the bed before walking out of the dormitory and making a fast exit out of the common room with red cheeks.

Harry made his way to his own dormitory and fell onto his bed, groaning loudly. He spent about half an hour listening to his thoughts telling him that he had crossed a line and that he had ruined the friendship he had with Draco. The negative thoughts plagued his mind until Dean walked in hand in hand with Seamus, greeting Harry with an “Alright Harry?” to which Harry just responded with a nod and went to the bathroom. That night he hardly slept, being extremely worried and restless.

The next morning Harry made his way down to the Hall for breakfast alone, due to it being quite early and Harry was hungry; he knew he couldn’t fall asleep again and he didn’t want to wake Ron up so he went alone. He was hoping that Draco was already in the Hall, but alas he was not. Harry sat alone at the table, the only other people being a few seventh years busy revising who had a mock exam that Sunday. Harry was eating a bowl of cereal and staring at the doors of the Great Hall when Draco walked in, looking less perfect (but still amazing) than usual. His hair wasn’t gelled back and his clothes weren’t coordinated as well. Draco caught Harry’s eyes and Harry smiled slightly, to which Draco just looked away and went and sat down at the Slytherin table.

Harry kept on looking at Draco throughout the rest of his meal, watching him eat his toast slowly and looking down, looking distressed and downcast. Harry sighed and quickly finished his bowl of cereal before leaving the Great Hall, taking the hint that he wasn’t wanted around. He looked back to the Slytherin table, momentarily seeing Draco watching him before whipping his head around quickly and walking out and back to the Gryffindor dormitory. Once in the Gryffindor dorm he gathered his Defence Against the Dark Arts notes and book along with some parchment and put them in a bag before making his way out onto the grounds and finding a tree to sit under while he consolidated and revised.

It was a cold day, the breeze was chilly and it was overcast with clouds. Harry spent hours working on his revision for DADA, but failed to realise he had written ‘Draco’ on the page a few times. When he read over them, he angrily scribbled out Draco’s name. Harry sighed. He shouldn’t be angry, but Draco didn’t need to avoid him. Harry could no longer concentrate and he had decided he had worked enough anyway, so he went over to the games shed and took out his broom and the snitch before making his way over to the Quidditch pitch, glad that no one was practicing there already.

Harry placed his things down on a bench in one of the stalls before letting go of the snitch and quickly mounting his broom and flying up high into the sky, breathing in the cool air to clear his mind. After having his eyes closed and resting for a few moments, Harry snapped his eyes open and began looking for the snitch. Once catching a glimpse of something gold and shiny, Harry shot off in that direction. Harry loved playing Seeker. He loved being depended on for something _other_ than saving the world. He loved the adrenaline, his heart pumping, using his senses to catch the smallest ball of the game which earned them 150 points. He loved playing Quidditch because his dad was a Chaser, and he loved the feel of it. In his opinion, Quidditch was so much better than football or rugby.

Just as Harry caught the snitch, he caught another glimpse of something, this time white blonde. His stomach turned as he landed and – which dishevelled hair, messy clothes and pink cheeks -  made his way over to Draco, whom of which was sitting down next to Harry’s DADA things. Harry sat down on the other side of Draco when he got to the bench, greeting him with a quiet “Hey”

“Harry, I’m sorry” Draco said. Harry was still shocked at the Malfoy saying sorry despite knowing who Draco was now. “I was out of order. I’ve just always been taught that the tattoo was something special and I’m not ready to share it with you” (Draco thought to himself _at least that’s half true_ ). Harry cautiously rested his hand on Draco’s knee, his heart fluttering at the contact – Harry noticed his heart did that a lot around Draco – and accepted his apology. “It’s okay Draco, just don’t avoid me again”

Draco smiled and nodded and they sat there for a while before standing up and making their way over to the games shed and putting the snitch and Harry’s broom away; Draco carrying Harry’s things for him. They then made their way back to the Great Hall, Harry realising that it was now lunch time and he was _starving._ They sat together at the Gryffindor table and ate, in the absence of Hermione and Ron, together with a feeling of happiness now everything had been resolved. Of course, Harry was still curious about what Draco’s tattoo was.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't contain myself - Here's the next chapter :D

* * *

 October quickly approached. Harry was sitting with Draco at the Gryffindor table, opposite Hermione and Ron. This was the typical set up for the four. They were casually eating dinner when Professor McGonagall stepped up onto the platform and cast a sonorous charm on her voice before speaking. “As you all know it is a week before Halloween. I and the rest of the professors have been discussing whether or not to throw a Halloween Ball-” Chatting and cheering erupted around the Hall for a few moments. “-As a one off event as a reward for fighting in the war and helping to rebuild the castle. We have decided to go through with this and it will occur in the Great Hall on the night of the thirty-first from seven pm until midnight. Dates are not required. You may come in fancy dress but it is not a requirement either. This weekend a Hogsmeade trip for all students will take place for anyone who wishes to buy a costume. Parents of first and second years have been contacted. Thank you for listening, enjoy the rest of your meals”

The whole Hall was suddenly loud with conversation of what to wear and excited squeals of having dates. Harry was smiling, but Draco was not. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked. “Potter I am a Malfoy. I cannot turn up to a ball without a date” Draco said. “But of course no one will go with me because _I am a Malfoy_ ” Harry smiled once again. “Go with me” he said, Draco’s eyes widening at the suggestion. “As friends, of course” Harry said with a slight waver in his voice. Draco nodded. “Okay” he said before picking up a piece of carrot with his fork and eating it.

That weekend Harry, Draco, Neville, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Dean all went down to Hogsmeade and to the fancy dress shop. “Potter why are you making me dress up?” Draco asked as Harry rifled through outfits. “Because, Draco, it’s _Halloween!_ You _have_ to dress up, especially if you’re going with me” Harry said with a grin. Draco rolled his eyes but looked through the outfits. Eventually Harry and Draco decided on a devil and an angel – Harry being the devil and Draco being the angel, half to mess with everyone and half due to the colour of their hair. Draco and Harry didn’t like the clothes for the devil and angel though, so they bought the accessories from the costume shop before making their way over to a normal clothing shop and buying an all white outfit for Draco and an all red outfit for Harry. Harry found it cheesy and very common, but he loved it. They’d even agreed to charm devil horns on Harry and a halo above Draco’s head.

Soon enough it was the Ball and everyone was getting dressed into their costumes in their respective dorms. Harry was in a tight red tshirt and skinny jeans – Draco of course had chosen that, saying that the devil would be stylish and what Harry was choosing was _not_ stylish. He was in the middle of charming horns onto his forehead and he had already attached the fake tail onto his jeans. Eventually, the golden trio were making their way down to the Hall to meet Draco and attend the party – Ron and Hermione dressed as a zombie bride and groom (Harry thought they looked quite good, actually). When Harry saw Draco leaning against the wall outside of the Hall, he gulped.

Draco was wearing a tight tshirt and skinny jeans too, but in white. He’d applied a little bit of black eyeliner and his hair was perfectly slicked back. The halo charmed above his head was bright and gold, and Harry for didn’t for one moment believe Draco wasn’t an actual angel. Harry breathed out slowly and made his way over to Draco. “Hey” he said, blushing. Draco smiled. “Not going to lie, we both look pretty hot” Draco said, pushing himself off of the wall. Harry thanked him nervously and Draco slung an arm around Harry’s shoulders as they made their way into the Hall to make a big entrance. Harry could smell firewhiskey on Draco’s breath and wondered two things: when he had bought it and why he didn’t inform Harry that he was in possession of firewhiskey.

All eyes focused on Draco and Harry as they walked in side by side, Draco’s arm around Harry. His cheeks blushed pink but when looking at Draco, he could see he was happy and lapping all the attention up – like the good old Draco. This made Harry happy so he put on a brave face and smiled confidently at everyone around the room. A few cameras went off – likely from those who ran the school newspaper that had arose that year.

Draco and Harry, with Ron and Hermione behind them, made their way over to a free table. After Harry sat down, he had time to take in the surroundings. The Great Hall had been converted into a ballroom, much like to one they had for Yule Ball. Tables were placed around the edges of the room whilst the middle was the allocated dancefloor. The ceiling had animated bats flapping around in night sky. Candles were placed around the edge of the top of the walls to light up the room an each table had its own jack-o-lantern with moving faces. The room was covered in orange, purple, green and black decorations and Harry thought it to be very Hogwarts-esque.

Harry caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to Draco pulling out what looked like a water bottle out of his pocket – which must have been charmed. Harry gave him a confused look. “It’s firewhiskey. Thought I’d share it with you… And maybe Weasley and Granger” Draco said, putting the water bottle down onto the table. Harry smiled, “Thank you” he said, watching Draco pour four goblets full of the firewhiskey after informing Ron and Hermione of the true contents. They all sat and drank and after one goblet, Harry was beginning to feel the buzz.

“Let’s dance!” Hermione exclaimed, pulling Ron up and stopping in front of Draco and Harry. “Both of you, too!” she said before skipping onto the dancefloor. Draco shrugged and stood up, offering a hand to Harry. “May as well” he said. Harry laughed quietly, taking Draco’s hand and not letting go as they made their way onto the busy floor. Their hands didn’t connect as they moved their bodies on the dancefloor in time to the music, next to wear Ron and Hermione were dancing. Harry looked over and caught Ron’s eye and beamed at him. He didn’t realise that was the moment Ron realised that Harry was extremely happy with Draco, and so he vowed to himself to accept the friendship – or whatever it was, as to Ron it seemed like more with the men holding hands.

For hours the two danced, growing closer and closer with each passing song. Harry thought Draco looked absolutely gorgeous. They had both cast a ‘finite’ on their charms so there was no longer a halo above Draco’s head, but Harry still thought he looked like an angel. With his flushed cheeks and beaming smile, slim body moving to the beat close to Harry, he felt like he was in heaven. Which was ironic because he was a devil and Draco was an angel. Harry’s stomach flipped each time he caught a glance of Draco looking completely happy and in his element and Harry thought that they definitely needed to party together more when they had the chance. A slow song started to play and the two of them slowed down. Harry took the risk…

He held out his hand as a gesture to Draco. Draco smiled and took Harry’s hand and together they slowly swayed together. Draco’s arms made their way around Harry’s waist and in return Harry linked his hands around Draco’s neck. The song came to a stop too quickly because for those three minutes, Harry felt wonderful. He felt wanted and loved. When it came to a stop, though, Draco’s hands automatically removed themselves from Harry’s waist and he automatically thought the worst – that Draco was angry at him and even worse, regretted it.

Instead of shouting, Draco just pulled Harry to the table and sat them down. Without saying anything, Draco pulled the neck of his tshirt down a little to reveal a glistening golden snitch flapping its wings on his chest.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry stared at the snitch on Draco’s pale chest. His eyes only looking awa away when Draco pulled his shirt up again. Harry looked up at Draco and saw his face was nervous and worrisome. Harry stood up from his chair and walked the few paces between the chairs. Draco gulped and flinched a bit, but Harry wasn’t going to hit him. Harry leant down, his fingers holding Draco’s chin, and kissed him. Draco gasped before retaliating, kissing Harry back, his stomach twisting. Draco’s arms wrapped around Harry’s neck. They only pulled apart when they heard whistling next to them; Harry grinned and looked to his side to see Seamus, hand in hand with Dean, standing there with a smile on his face. “I told you” Seamus said in his Irish drawl before skipping off, returning to dance with Dean. Harry smiled and looked back at Draco to see him beaming with happiness, which in itself made Harry’s stomach flip.

“Draco Malfoy will you be my, Merlin.. boyfriend?” Harry said, the word boyfriend ringing in his ears. “Yes, you idiot” Draco said, getting up and hugging Harry tightly. Harry grinned and wrapped his arms around Draco’s torso. Harry could see that energy was running through Draco, so he wasn’t surprised when he pulled Harry to the dancefloor, hand in hand, to find Hermione and Ron. They soon reached the couple, who were talking to Padma and her friend, who Harry couldn’t put a name to. Hermione glanced back when she heard Harry’s voice telling Draco to slow down, laughing whilst saying it. She looked down at their interlocked fingers and excused herself and Ron from the conversation they were having and made her way Harry and Draco, Ron in tow. “Details!” is all she said, in a high pitched voice. Ron was smiling, to Harry’s surprise, looking happy for the two.

Draco explained to Hermione about their tattoos – with Harry interjecting to explain the meaning of his – and about how Harry had saved Draco from a very dark place, which made Harry feel glad that he was there, but upset that Draco had felt that way. Hermione and Ron expressed their happiness for the two, “’Mione and me don’t care that you’re two blokes, or that it’s Malfoy – no offence Malfoy but we haven’t had the best past” Draco nodded to show he understood. “If you’re happy then we’re happy” Harry hugged his best friends before the two couples returned to dancing.

Draco and Harry spent the rest of the night kissing and dancing and laughing. Harry didn’t let go of Draco the whole time, he had to be holding him. Now he had Draco, he wasn’t going to let go. After the ball, Harry walked a grinning Draco back to the Slytherin common room and pecked him on the lips as a farewell for the night. Harry watched Draco walk into the room with a skip and Harry laughed at his overly happy and tipsy boyfriend. _Boyfriend._ Harry liked the sound of that.

That night, after Ron had fallen asleep and Harry had cast a ‘silencio’ on his best friend to stop his snoring from annoying everyone in the room as they fell asleep, Harry thought about Draco. He thought about the past, how Harry and Draco always had to get on one another’s nerves, always had to be around one another. Harry remembered first year, the look on Draco’s face when he refused his hand. Harry remembered second year, in the Slytherin common room with Draco and Ron. Harry remembered third year, when in Care of Magical Creatures when Draco stalked over to him, biting his lip and looking him up and down. Harry remembered fourth year and their argument by the tree before Draco had been turned into a ferret. Harry remembered fifth year when Draco was Umbridge’s society against Dumbledore’s Army and they blew the wall of the Room up, and the knot in Harry’s stomach when he met Draco’s eyes. Harry remembered sixth year, when he had to admit he was obsessed with Draco and most probably had a crush on him. Harry remembered Draco not giving Harry up to the Death Eaters and the Room of Requirement where Draco clung to Harry for dear life. From day one he’d found Draco fascinating and was drawn to him. Harry smiled as he looked at his wrist. _He’s the one._

The next morning, Harry walked down to the Great Hall later than usual, having slept like a baby, and was greeted by the sight of Draco, Ron and Hermione all conversing in a civil manner. Harry smiled as he made his way to the Gryffindor table, the Great Hall now back to normal. Just as Harry sat down, the owls swooped down and dropped Daily Prophet’s, letters and presents down onto the tables. A letter dropped in front of Draco, but what seemed to catch Draco’s eyes first and make them widen was the Daily Prophet. Right on the front page was a picture of Harry and Draco kissing whilst dancing in the middle of the Hall. Harry blushed and looked up at the sympathetic expressions of his best friends. Draco gulped and picked up the Prophet, reading the paragraph that accompanied the picture, explaining how to ‘Great Boy-Who-Lived-Twice, the Saviour had chosen a dirty Death Eater’ Harry snatched the Prophet out of Draco’s hands and put his hands on either side of Draco’s downcast face.

“Ignore that rubbish” Harry said, looking into Draco’s slightly watery eyes. “None of it matters. Nothing anyone else thinks matters, as long as we’re happy, okay?” Harry kissed Draco’s forehead and Draco fell into Harry’s chest, resting his head there for a while. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco and looked at Ron and Hermione. They could easily detect the anger in his eyes. “Calm down mate, there’s nothing that can be done now. Like you said, it doesn’t matter” Ron said softly. Harry just nodded and looked back at        Draco who was now pulling away. “That letter’s from my mother. I bet she’s seen the newspaper” Draco said, hesitantly picking up the letter. Harry offered to open it for him, but Draco refused. Harry read the letter at the same time as Draco.

“ _Dear Draco_

_I can’t say I am impressed by your choice of partner, nor am I happy with the way I found out. However, despite this, I am glad you have found someone. You look different in the image, you look happy. After all that we have been through, you deserve to be happy. So, I would like to meet Harry at some point. It won’t be over Christmas, as I am preoccupied in France, but I would like to meet him nevertheless. Ignore the rubbish that the Daily Prophet printed. I’ll see you soon._

_Love, Mother x”_

Harry’s eyebrows were raised and a smile was gracing itself upon Draco’s face. “That was better than I expected” he said, after a sniff. “I’m glad Father won’t know” Harry pulled Draco into his side. “Everything’s okay” Harry whispered and Draco nodded. They stayed like that for a moment, leaning into one another, before beginning to eat breakfast and discuss the day with Ron and Hermione, who both expressed that they, in Ron’s words, ‘thought the Prophet was spouting bollocks’, which made Draco smile. Harry loved Draco’s smile. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is out a month late! I'm not even going to attempt to make excuses and my only reasoning is that I've simply not been motivated at all. But it's here now, please forgive me?

It was nearing the Christmas holidays and Draco currently felt very out of place. Hermione, Ron and Harry were all telling Draco about Snape’s and Lily’s patronuses, of which Draco couldn’t cast. He felt useless when it came to patronuses because he couldn’t pinpoint a happy moment to drive his magic. Of course, he had Harry now, but he hadn’t bothered to attempt casting a patronus. His father was horribly upset with Draco when he was unable to cast a patronus and despite all of the pushing and pushing, sometimes using curses to try to ‘motivate Draco’, he never got the hang of it. His mother used the memory of first holding Draco in her arms, so she said, when Draco went to her aching after hours of attempting the spell. Neither Draco nor his mother knew Lucius’ happy thought. Draco’s past was just not happy enough for the spell to truly work.

“Draco” Harry asked, nudging him. Draco looked up, “Hm? Sorry” he said, realising he had been spacing out. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist. Draco just shook his head in response, but when he looked into Harry’s concerned green eyes, he crumbled. “I...I can’t cast a patronus” he said quietly. “Draco, you should have said, I can teach you how to cast one if you want” Harry said with a smile. Draco blushed a bit and nodded, whispering “That’d be nice” before resting his head on Harry’s shoulder. He looked over to Ron and Hermione to see them smiling at the couple and Draco felt content.

It was after lunch that Harry abruptly dragged Draco out onto the ground of Hogwarts with no explanation. Draco, grasping onto Harry’s hand, must have repeated the question of “What are you doing, Potter?!” at least six times before giving up. Once they had stopped Draco tugged on Harry’s hand and looked at his face, which was sporting a beaming smile. “What the heck is going on?” he asked. Harry smiled and withdrew his wand, which caused Draco’s stomach to knot up. Irrational thoughts ran through his mind, thoughts of _‘Harry’s going to hex me’ ‘It was all a trick just to hurt me’ ‘I’m going to die’_. “You want to learn the patronus charm right? Well, I’m going to teach you” Harry said smiling. Draco laughed internally at himself, ‘ _Of course’_. Draco smiled back and withdrew his own wand, twisting it between his fingers a few times.

Harry explained the movement of the wand and the spell, and how a happy memory could help cast the charm. Draco watched Harry cast his patronus, a stag galloping out from the tip of Harry’s wand. Draco watched in awe as the stag circled Draco before disappearing into thin air. A blush formed on Harry’s cheeks as if he were embarrassed by the stag’s actions. Draco just giggled – of which he was mortified about, Malfoy’s don’t giggle! – and kissed Harry’s cheek, telling him that the stag was gorgeous. Harry snaked an arm around Draco’s waist and Draco leant into the touch, sighing. “Now it’s your turn” he said. Draco gulped and held out his wand arm. Harry stood flush to Draco’s back and held Draco’s wand-laden hand, whispering into Draco’s ear to think of a happy thought. A shiver ran up Draco’s spine as he closed his eyes and thought of Harry talking to him for the first time since the court case, and how relieved and excited it made Draco. “Got one” Draco whispered. Harry nodded and told Draco to say the incantation. As Draco said, “Expecto Patronum”, Harry moved their hands to create the correct movement. A small beam of white light poured from the tip of Draco’s wand before quickly dissipating into the air. Draco’s heart dropped. “Don’t worry, it takes a while to get used to casting the spell. Maybe your thought isn’t happy enough” Harry said, letting go of Draco, causing him to let out a small sound of protest involuntarily.

Harry’s arms found their way around Draco’s waist as Draco took a few deep breaths and raised his arm once again. He thought about when he first saw Harry’s tattoo and how much hope that gave him. Upon casting the spell, a harsher white light found its way from Draco’s wand, but again quickly disappeared. Draco sighed and tried again, and again and again. He used memories from first riding a broomstick, to making it onto the Slytherin Quidditch Team, to being side by side with Harry fighting to get the snitch. He thought of clinging onto Harry, escaping the fiendfyre. He thought of the relief he felt when his mother told him that Harry was alive. The feeling of relief and happiness when he was finally free from Voldemort, and when he was told he wasn’t going to be put in Azkaban. None of these thoughts worked and Draco grew angrier and angrier. The closest he got to producing a full patronus was when he used the memory of kissing Harry for the first time, but the feelings were evidently not strong enough as the patronus only consisted of a stream of white light instead of an animal.

Draco groaned and almost shouted, “I can’t do this!” His body was quickly turned around so that he was facing Harry. “Yes Draco, you can, you just need to find a deeper and happier memory” he said. Draco growled slightly, “I’ve _used_ all of my happy memories! And none of them seem to work because I can’t make myself feel how happy I was at the time! What do you suggest I do now?!” he said. “This” Harry said, confusing Draco for a second. However, his confusion didn’t last long as Harry pulled Draco close and kissed him forcefully. Draco gasped and dropped his wand to wrap his arms around Harry’s neck and kiss him back. Draco’s heart was beating fast and he felt butterflies in his stomach. His cheeks were flushed and his skin tingled. Adrenalin was running through him as his and Harry’s lips moved against one another’s passionately and when Harry tried to pull away, Draco just pulled him back.

Eventually they pulled away, panting and smiling. “Cast the patronus now” Harry whispered after bending down to pick up Draco’s wand from where it had fallen onto the grass. Draco, still smiling, nodded and took his wand from Harry. He looked into Harry’s eyes as he said, “Expecto Patronum” and flicked his wand. He felt a surge of magic run through him and looked to see a fox erupt from the tip of Draco’s wand. Harry turned to see the fox running around their feet on the ground and beamed. Draco couldn’t take his eyes off of Harry and could stop smiling himself. He was proud of his patronus, of course he was, but he much preferred the pride and happiness that was displayed across Harry’s face as he watched the fox run around them a few more times before disappearing.

Draco suddenly had an armful of Harry and laughed as Harry hugged him tightly. “You did it!” Harry said excitedly. “Only because of you. Thank you” Draco said, burying his head into Harry’s neck. They stayed like that for a while, hugging tightly and enjoying the embrace. Draco kissed Harry’s neck gently before pulling away from the embrace and took a second to admire his boyfriend’s features. He saw Harry blush and lower his head in embarrassment, to which Draco just nudged back up with two fingers under Harry’s chin. Draco kissed Harry lightly for a few seconds before pulling a way slightly and whispering another thank you. Harry stuttered out, “Y-Um, You’re welcome” and Draco found it adorable how Harry had become nervous when this close to Draco. Draco tucked his wand away and intertwined his and Harry’s fingers together before kissing Harry’s cheek and suggested that they take a walk around the grounds, to which Harry agreed.

The two ended up at Hagrid’s Hut as Harry had insisted they say hello and tell him about the news. Draco was more than nervous, and he knew Harry had noticed him shaking. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay” Harry said, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist and pulling him close to his side as they neared the door to the hut. “Harry I was horrid to you, Granger and Weasley and I’m pretty sure Hagrid is aware of this. It won’t be okay. He _hates_ me” Draco said, clinging onto Harry’s tshirt as they got closer. “He will see that you make me happy and so he’ll accept it, trust me” Harry said before knocking on the door to the hut. Draco’s breathing was somewhat erratic and he stopped breathing entirely when the door opened. “Harry! Come on- Malfoy. What are you doin’ here?” Hagrid said, looking at Draco. Draco didn’t dare look at Hagrid in the eye so he shuffled further into Harry and stared at the ground. “Hagrid, can Draco and I come in? I have something to tell you” Harry said. Hagrid agreed to let them in and the two stepped inside of the small hut. Harry insisted that Draco enter first and Draco knew this was so Harry could still have his arm somewhat around Draco’s waist. Draco looked around the hut and smiled slightly. It was very cosy and _very_ Hagrid. He let Harry direct him to some seats and sat them both down, removing his arm from Draco’s waist and instead holding Draco’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

Hagrid noticed their intertwined fingers and rose an eyebrow but didn’t say anything until he had offered tea, to which they both refused politely. Hagrid sat down opposite them and looked into Harry’s eyes. “So, what’s up Harry?” he said. Draco took a deep breath and bit down on his lip, earning him a concerned look from Harry and another squeeze of the hand. “Hagrid, Draco and I…we’re a thing. He’s my soulmate” Harry said, to which Hagrid furrowed his eyebrows together. “Look, I know Draco and I haven’t had the best past, but Draco’s changed and he’s amazing and he makes me so happy. I was confused about my tattoo from day one but it makes so much sense now. Draco’s is also a snitch so that one’s pretty obvious” Harry said with a nervous laugh at the end. Hagrid just nodded and was silent for a few seconds, which caused even more tension to arise. Finally, he began to speak. “Well, if he makes you ‘appy then I’m ‘appy. What’s Ron and ‘Ermione have to say ‘bout this?” he said. “They both accepted it pretty quickly, because they could see how Draco has changed and how happy I am with him” Harry replied. “Good, good. That’s good” Hagrid said and looked up at Draco and gave him a smile. Draco smiled back and the couple stayed for a few hours, talking to Hagrid and asking him how he’d been recently. The whole thing went much better than what Draco had suspected.

About an hour and a half later, Harry and Draco said their farewells to Hagrid and made their way up to the Great Hall for dinner, where they informed Ron and Hermione of Draco’s success at forming a patronus, of which was a fox, and their conversation with Hagrid. Draco believed it to be a very successful Sunday.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am so so sorry for the YEAR+ that I have been away. I have no other excuse other than I lost interest and I am so so sorry for that. I finally gathered some motivation to write this chapter, so here is said long overdue chapter.   
> Again, I apologise for the long delay and thank you to those who have stuck around and sent me supportive comments <3
> 
> (Also, I apologise for any mistakes)

****The Christmas holidays came quicker than expected and neither Harry or Draco knew where the time went. With preparing for exams, and every moment they had to spare in each other’s arms, the time had flown by. As the four of them – Hermione, Ron, Harry and Draco – sat together in the Great Hall listening to McGonagall’s speech about having a great Christmas and using the time wisely, Draco’s mind wandered and his heart grew heavy. He and Harry and not spoken much about Christmas, and he never found an opportune time to tell Harry that he’d be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas for the first time ever. He knew that Harry would be planning on going to stay at the Weasley’s, as usual, and he also knew that if he said anything, Harry would offer to stay with Draco and Draco didn’t want that. He didn’t want Harry to miss out on a yearly tradition just for Draco. Draco sighed and slowly brought himself back to reality in time, just in time to hear the last sentence of McGonagall’s speech. People began to flood out of the Great Hall and head to their dormitories for an early night and to prepare for their journeys home. Draco saw the trio start to move out of their seats, and followed suit, trying his best to listen in on their conversations and seem involved.

Harry himself wasn’t really listening to Ron and Hermione, his mind occupied by Draco’s sullen look. They all made their way back to the Gryffindor common room – it quickly became a common occurrence for Draco to join them as it was a much warmer and safer environment for him. Once they had reached the common room, Ron and Hermione dismissed themselves as they still had some packing to do. Harry led Draco to one of the red couches and sat them both down before gathering the courage to ask Draco what was on his mind. “Nothing important, Harry. Don’t you need to pack for going to the Weasley’s tomorrow?” was his response, to which Harry shook his head. “I’ve already packed. I’m actually staying at Grimmauld Place, so I don’t need to take much. What about you? Where are you staying?” Harry had only just realised that he had no idea what Draco’s plans were for Christmas, and vaguely remembered something about Narcissa being in France. “I was planning on staying here over Christmas…” Draco said, quietly and suddenly Harry understood the reason behind Draco’s sad eyes. “I’m sorry Draco, I shouldn’t have assumed you were going to another family member over Christmas. You don’t have to stay here though” Harry said, building up to an offer that could either be met with happiness, or met with rejection. “I have nowhere else to go Harry” Draco said sharply. _‘Here it goes’_ Harry thought before opening his mouth, “You could, uh, you could stay at Grimmauld Place with me?” he said quickly. Draco snapped his head around to look at Harry and Harry was sure Draco must have pulled a muscle. “Are, are you serious?” Draco said shyly. Harry’s heart dropped slightly, “Of course I’m sure. The house isn’t a great place to be when it’s just you and a grumpy house elf”. Draco smiled and slid his hand into Harry’s, giving it a squeeze. “I’d love to spend Christmas with you” he said. Harry let out a sigh of relief and they sat like that, hand in hand, in a comfortable silence until they decided it was time to sleep.

- 

Morning arrived quickly and the Gryffindor trio left their common room, bags in hand, and made their way out of Hogwarts. They met with Draco by the entrance and the whole journey was rather pleasant – a happy aura surrounding them all. Back on Platform 9 and ¾, Harry and Draco bid their goodbyes to Ron and Hermione and apparated to a secluded spot near Grimmauld Place, to ensure no muggles saw two men suddenly appear before their eyes, and then made their way to the house. The first thing both of them noticed when they stepped inside was that the house was cold and dull. Draco could see why Harry would not like to spend Christmas alone here, as he looked around at the bland yet eerie house. The second thing they noticed that there was a nice smell coming from the kitchen and Harry’s heart swelled. Kreacher was constantly grumpy and could be rather foul, Harry knew that. However, Kreacher was thankful for all Harry had done and so would sometimes surprise Harry with random acts of kindness. The two made their way to the kitchen, after Harry had told Draco just to drop his bag by the stairs, and greeted Kreacher. “Mister Potter, welcome back” Kreacher drawled without looking up. “Hello Kreacher, hope you haven’t missed me too much” Harry chuckled. “Kreacher is cooking dinner and mince pies for you” Kreacher said, turning around. His large eyes widened when he saw Draco standing there. “Mister Malfoy, what are you doing here?” He asked. Harry explained that Draco would be staying with them for the holidays and told Kreacher to be nice, despite knowing that he wouldn’t be rude like he was to Ron and Hermione for the simple fact that Draco was related to the Black family, Kreacher’s original Masters.

The two left Kreacher to continue cooking and Harry led Draco to the main living area. “Really feeling the Christmas vibe, Potter” Draco said, laughing. Harry rolled his eyes, but laughed all the same. “If that’s your way of asking if we can decorate the place, the answer is yes” Harry said, nudging Draco in the side. Draco pulled out his wand, ready to start transfiguring things, but Harry shook his head. “There are actual decorations in the loft, I’ll go get them if you’d give me a minute” he said and Draco took a seat. “Hurry up then” he said playfully and Harry disappeared to retrieve the decorations. It felt like forever, but Harry finally reappeared carrying only one box. “Is that it?” Draco asked. “Ever heard of an extension charm, Malfoy?” Harry said with a wink before pulling out a small Christmas tree. “Alright, snarky” Draco said and made his way over to the box, emptying it of the contents. Harry had placed the tree in the largest available place near a wall and cast an ‘engorgio’ on the tree, causing it to grow and end up touching the ceiling. When he walked back over to Draco, the blonde placed a string of tinsel around Harry’s neck, causing Harry to smile. “Adorable” Draco said with a grin. Harry grabbed some tinsel himself and draped it around Draco, “Right back at you” he said. Draco blushed slightly and Harry’s heart swelled with love. Then they got to work, using their wands to guide lights around the tree and up the stairs, to add baubles and a star to the tree and scatter other decorations around the living area and hallway. While Harry was busy sorting out the decorations on the fireplace, Draco disappeared upstairs and found Harry’s room. It wasn’t hard to spot – Hedwig’s old cage was still perched on top of a chest of drawers, and there was some Quidditch merchandise Draco assumed Harry had gotten at the Quidditch World Cup match. He then got to work on adding decorations to the room, quickly but still making sure it looked good.

When Draco walked back into the living area, he noticed Harry had finished. And he hadn’t done too badly for someone with no fashion sense. “Where did you disappear to?” Harry said as Draco made his way over to him. Draco sat down on the couch next to Harry and leant into his side. “You’ll see” he said, smiling. Harry rolled his eyes but let it go. He turned his head to look at Draco, to take him in. Draco smiling always warmed Harry’s heart, and the radiance that was coming from Draco and his flushed cheeks made Harry oh so happy. He couldn’t help himself and grabbed Draco’s face and pulled him in for a kiss. Draco made a startled sound but settled quickly, leaning into the kiss. They kissed for a few minutes, both of them savouring every second of it. When they pulled away from one another, both of their cheeks were red and they were both grinning. Harry was so calm, so relaxed, and so when Kreacher called out to him that their dinner was ready if they’d like to come to the dining room, Harry jumped. Draco laughed at the startled Harry and let himself be pulled up from the couch and led into the kitchen where two plates were placed on the table opposite one another, alongside some cutlery. Kreacher had cooked them a traditional ‘Toad in the Hole’ meal, which Harry did not mind one bit. The house elf then entered with a bottle of wine, and how he had gotten his hands on that Harry did not know. “Would Misters Potter and Malfoy like some wine?” Kreacher asked them, to which they mutually agreed that yes, they would. Harry thanked Kreacher and told him that he could take the rest of the evening off to do whatever he liked – both to show his appreciation and because he wanted some alone time with Draco. Kreacher thanked Harry and off he went, leaving the two men alone.

The meal went down well and Harry and Draco conversed about anything they could think of. When they were both finished with both the food and the wine – the two beginning to feel a bit merry – Harry placed the dishes in the sink and cast a cleaning spell. Draco then grabbed his hand and without warning, pulled him up the stairs and to his room. Harry grabbed their bags as they passed them and followed Draco up the stairs. Once they had reached Harry’s room, Draco let go of Harry’s hand and told him to close his eyes. Harry obliged and heard Draco open the door before taking his hand once again and leading him into the room. “Okay, you can open your eyes now” he heard Draco say, and so he did. He gasped slightly when he saw his room, dropping their bags. Fairy lights were draped across the banister of the bed, and Draco had charmed the ceiling so that it looked like the night sky. Draco had wrapped tinsel around Hedwig’s empty cage, pulling at Harry’s heartstrings for a moment, and he had transfigured some baubles into candles which were lit and placed on the top of Harry’s chest of drawers. There was a wreath magically suspended against the wall and the whole room felt homelier than it ever had in the past. “Is it, is it okay?” Draco asked nervously. Harry closed the gap between them and said “It’s perfect” he said before pressing their lips together. Draco hummed happily and let Harry guide them to the bed. Their lips parted for a moment while Draco kicked off his shoes (Harry following suit) and lay back onto the bed. Harry climbed on top of Draco and closed the gap again. They kissed and kissed, passionately with wandering hands. When they parted for air, they gazed into one another’s eyes and smiled like neither have them had smiled before. “I love you, Draco” Harry whispered. “Merlin, I love you too Harry” Draco said before reaching up again and reconnecting their lips.  They explored one another’s bodies, kissing each other’s soul mate marks and things escalated quickly.

When Draco woke up the next morning with an armful of naked Harry, he knew this Christmas would be the start of many amazing Christmases.


	15. Epilogue

_Ninteen Years Later_

The sounds of excited children filled the Autumn air as Harry and Draco passed through the barrier separating Muggle Platform 9, and Platform 9 and ¾. In front of them, thirteen-year-old James ran ahead to where he had spotted some friends, and alongside them was eleven-year-old Scorpius, whose face portrayed nerves for his first journey to Hogwarts.

Harry and Draco, once married, had decided to adopt. They felt like it was time to bring in another member, to form a proper family. They had found a witch who was putting up her child for adoption straight after birth; who also decided that she wanted Draco and Harry to name the child. They’d both agreed on James Sirius, Draco knowing how important both of those men were to his spouse and so happily named their first son after Harry’s father and god-father. Then, two years later they were contacted by the same witch, saying she had accidentally fallen pregnant again but still did not have the means to look after the baby and that’s how they ended up with Scorpius Hyperion – Harry was not especially keen on the names Draco had chosen, but it was only fair that he chose the names of their second child.

The couple quickly spotted Ron and Hermione, along with their two ginger-haired children, and made their way over to them. Rose, their eldest, was also starting Hogwarts this year, which put Harry at ease knowing that Scorpius wouldn’t be completely alone. Their son, Hugo, was two years younger than Rose and was looking enviously at her luggage. “You’ll be starting in no time” Ron told his son, patting him on the shoulder. Harry smiled, and the four of them stood talking whilst the kids chattered away.

“Parked alright, then?” Ron asked Harry. “I did, Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the examiner.”

“No, I didn’t” Hermione said back, “I had complete faith in you.”

“As a matter of fact, I did Confund him.” Ron admitted, whispering to Harry and Draco, “I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let’s face it, I can use a Supersensory charm for that.” Harry and Draco chuckled. As Ron jokingly threatened to disinherit Rose if she wasn’t sorted into Gryffindor (and Hermione scolded him for doing so), Harry looked around, spotting familiar faces.

Both James and Scorpius knew that their parents would be proud of them, no matter what house they got sorted into. James just happened to follow in the Potter footsteps and was sorted into Gryffindor, whereas both Harry and Draco predicted Scorpius would be sorted into Slytherin. They reassured Scorpius that Slytherin was perfectly okay, and he was hoping that Ron’s comments to Rose weren’t getting into Scorpius’ head and undoing all of the reassurance Harry and Draco had given him.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when James came bounding over. “Teddy’s back there”, he said breathlessly, and pointing over to the crowds. “Just seen him! And guess what he’s doing? _Snogging Victoire_!” When no one reacted, James started talking again. “ _Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin_! Snogging _our_ Victoire! _Your_ cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-”

“You interrupted them?” Draco asked, laughing.

“-and he said he’d come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He’s _snogging_ her!” James added, as though worried he had not made himself clear. Scorpius was making a slightly disgusted face, while Rose was commenting that ‘they could get married, and then Teddy would officially be part of the family’.

“Teddy’s already practically a part of our family. He’s always round the house, anyway” Harry said, “Why don’t we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?”

“I don’t mind sharing with Scorpius” James piped up, enthusiastically.

“No”, Draco said. “You two will only share a room when I want the house demolished.”

Harry checked the time. It was 10:54, almost time for the train to leave. “Right, well you kids better start boarding the train.” He said, placing a hand on Scorpius’ shoulder. James, eager as always, said goodbye to Ron and Hermione before giving both Harry and Draco fleeting hugs and running off to the train, not waiting for Scorpius. Scorpius looked up at Harry and Draco, nerves in his eyes. “You’ll write to me, won’t you?” he asked. Draco smiled, “Every day, if you want us to.” Scorpius smiled, “Maybe not every day. James says most people only get letters from home about once a month.”

“We sent letters to James three times a week last year” Draco said.

“Oh, and don’t believe everything your brother tells you about Hogwarts. He likes a laugh, that one” Harry said, before pulling Scorpius in for a hug. The hug lasted for a few moments before Scorpius pulled away to wrap his arms around Draco. Then, he said goodbye one last time to Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione and Hugo, and made his way to the train with Rose. “Don’t worry, he’ll be alright” Draco said, noticing the frown on Harry’s face. Harry nodded and wrapped an arm around Draco’s waist.

 

The train began to emit steam, and with a loud sound of the horn, began to move. Harry and Draco raised their arms to wave and didn’t stop waving until the train was out of sight. They sighed happily and made their way back to their car, Ron and Hermione by their side. With a glance at his clothed wrist, and then a glance at his husband and soul mate, Harry knew, all was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, folks! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it :)


End file.
